The gross domestic product (GDP) of Montenegro will grow at a rate of 3.3 percent this year, and 3.7 percent next year, according to the new forecasts of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Based on new, revised data, forecasts of the regional economic perspective were given. Compared to September values, GDP growth in 2022 is higher by as much as 2.6 percent and should amount to 6.3 percent. On the other hand, the estimated growth this year is lower by 0.7 percentage points compared to the original four percent.
For the region of the Western Balkans, it was estimated that GDP growth in 2022 was three percent, and that it will be 2.2 percent this year, and 3.4 percent in 2024.
In contrast to the estimates from the report published at the end of September, the EBRD believes that this year’s growth will be lower by 0.7 percent. The new growth forecasts for the countries in which the EBRD operates are generally lower than the previous ones, but that is why Armenia and Montenegro received significantly increased growth by 5.5 and 2.6 percent, respectively, compared to the previous indicators. The EBRD estimates that production in the first nine months of 2022 increased by 3.2 percent on an annual basis, and by about 2.4 percent for the whole year due to the war in Ukraine and the consequences of the corona virus pandemic.
“Average inflation in the EBRD regions fell to 16.5 percent in December after peaking at 17.5 percent in October. It is expected that production in Central Europe and the Baltic countries will grow by 0.6 percent this year, while the region’s economies in 2022 have proven to be more resilient than expected,” the EBRD estimates, adding that next year’s growth will be 2,7 percent.