Serbia

RGE's Q1 2010 Outlook

After posting robust growth of 5.4% in 2008, Serbia’s economy slowed significantly in 2009 due to deteriorating export performance, limited access to external finance and weak domestic demand. The country’s GDP fell by 4.2% y/y in H1 2009, mostly led downward by weakness in the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors. Following double-digit declines in H1 2009, the pace of contraction of industrial output started to ease in August, mostly on the back of the recovery in iron and steel exports. Serbia’s economy shrank by an estimated 3% in 2009. Going forward, private consumption will remain constrained due to sluggish bank lending, falling real wages and rising unemployment. The economy will experience weak growth in 2010, mostly driven by investment and export demand.

Read the Q1 2010 Serbia Outlook.