Governor of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), Jorgovanka Tabaković, stated today that in the last four years, there has been a cumulative growth of the Serbian economy of about 12 percent, despite reduced external demand, and that this is confirmation of the good economic situation in the country.
She, during the presentation of the report on the transition of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), titled “Big and Small Transitions” this year, stated that during that period, there was also a high influx of foreign direct investments, reaching record amounts of 4.4 and 4.5 billion euros in the previous two years.
The level of inflow of foreign direct investments, as emphasized by Tabaković, is confirmation of the favorable business environment created and the growth of investment confidence, thanks to the responsible economic policy led by the government and the central bank of Serbia.
“Unemployment in Serbia, which was over 20 percent, has been reduced to a single-digit level, with strong and widespread growth in employment and wages,” said the governor. She added that the Serbian economy is experiencing strong profitability growth, whereas a decade ago, it operated at a loss.
According to her, Serbia has achieved and maintained relative stability in the exchange rate for over a decade, with a record level of foreign reserves amounting to 25 billion euros. This has been and will remain one of the important prerequisites for both large and small transitions.
She also mentioned that alongside all of this, the citizens of Serbia have access to the most advanced payment services, and they make maximum use of this access. “Each of these pillars of stability, growth, and development is important because the result of every successful and responsible economic policy must be an increased satisfaction with the quality of life for citizens,” Tabaković stated.
The governor added that the EBRD report, presented at the NBS, also includes the results of the analysis from the World Happiness Report, which indicates that the number of countries from the EBRD region in the top 50 happiest countries has increased from just three in 2016 to 12 in 2022.
“According to the results of this report, Serbia has secured its place in this group and, measured by the happiness indicator, achieved the third-largest improvement in the previous decade. This is another confirmation of the correctness of the economic policy in Serbia,” she emphasized.
Tabaković also stated that the EBRD report showed that people’s satisfaction is positively influenced by improvements in health and positive trends in the labor market. She mentioned that compared to the report from 2006, Serbia has secured its position in the group of countries with the highest increase in satisfaction with health through significant investments in the healthcare system.
This includes not only infrastructure and equipment but also investing in people, their professional development, and efforts to improve their standard of living, thereby encouraging them to stay in the country where they were educated.
“Equally important is the fact that we have managed to increase employment among vulnerable population groups, meaning that we have made significant progress in the labor market in the period behind us, achieving a greater balance between the supply and demand for labor. Additionally, we have a highly qualified workforce, a fact often highlighted by many foreign investors and rating agencies,” stated Tabaković. She added that Serbia now faces the challenge of training people to work with new technologies and “greening” jobs.
The governor of the Central Bank of Serbia also mentioned that one of the topics in the report presented today is how the quality of life and housing affects energy efficiency and the emission of harmful gases.
“I don’t know how familiar the public is with the fact that the EBRD is actively involved in this area, providing loans to citizens for home adaptation and increasing energy efficiency through credit lines to banks in Serbia. At the same time, through its instruments, the NBS supports such projects by exempting funds that banks reallocate from loans from international financial organizations from mandatory reserves,” said Tabaković.
