The World Bank’s GLOOMY forecasts INCLUDE Serbia as well
The economies of developing countries in Europe and Central Asia, including Serbia as well, will experience the worst recession this year since the 2008 financial crisis. This will cause an increase in poverty, according to an updated World Bank Economic Report.
Economic activity is expected to recover in 2021, but the pace of recovery depends on the duration of the coronavirus pandemic, the availability of vaccines and the improvement of global trade and investments.
The World Bank estimates that, with a living wage of US$ 3.2 a day, an additional 2.2 million people in the region could fall into poverty, and with a living wage of US$ 5.5 a day, which is commonly used as a definition for higher middle-income countries, as much as six million would face the same outcome.
The corona pandemic and accompanying measures to combat its effects have a strong impact on the Serbian economy as well, which is expected to fall into recession with a projected GDP decline by three percent in 2020.
The recovery, at a slow pace, will begin in 2021, and Serbia needs to continue working on removing obstacles for the growth of private sector, resulting from weak governance and bureaucracy, the report said.
Izvor: Večernje novosti
Foto: Pixabay
