Serbia: Country Profile and Recent Economic Developments

This study provides an overview of economic developments in the Republic of Serbia since the end of the Miloševic regime in the fall of 2000. Starting from a short review of the political context, the study reports on Serbia’s relations with the EU and the IMF as well as the Paris and the London Clubs. Subsequently, the most important structural reform measures are presented. The article then turns to macroeconomic developments, focusing on GDP growth, the labor market, inflation, monetary policy, fiscal policy and the external sector. Based on this discussion, the paper concludes that after a lost decade Serbia has embarked on a fairly dynamic transition path and has achieved substantial progress in recent years. At the same time, however, the Serbian authorities are still facing a set of key challenges at the current juncture, such as high inflation and unemployment or the high current account deficit. Other major tasks include further advancing the privatization process and combating corruption. On the political front, further progress in the cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague is needed, also with a view to promoting negotiations with the EU on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Given that Serbia’s economic weight is comparatively large in the Western Balkans, a successful completion of the transformation process in Serbia is important also from a regional perspective.