MAT: The negative impact of COVID-19 on the Serbian industry is greater than the crisis of 2008
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, industrial production, foreign trade and domestic consumption in Serbia in April this year were on a significant decline, both current and year-on-year, traffic is also in a standstill, along with tourism and catering services, and the recovery of industrial production in May will be only partial, the authors of the economic bulletin „Macroeconomic Analysis and Trends“ (MAT) pointed out. „The negative effect of the virus on the dynamics of industrial production has exceeded the impact of the economic crisis of 2008,“ the new issue of MAT states. It is added that the investment activity has not stopped, but it has slowed down significantly. „There was no current growth in consumer prices in April, and the year-on-year increase is significantly below the lower limit of the target interval,“ the MAT points out, noting that total industrial production fell 16.6 percent year-on-year in April, thus following an increase in the first trimester by 4.4 percent, a decline of 0.8 percent was recorded in the period January-April. The sector in which such a decline in total industrial production was caused is the manufacturing industry, with a year-on-year decline of 19.9 percent in April and 0.6 percent in the period January-April.
