Goldstein: Serbia's contribution to regional growth biggest

BELGRADE - Southeast European countries are registering higher growth and a decline of high unemployment rates, and Serbia, as the largest economy in the region, has made the biggest contribution to this trend, says World Bank Country Director for Southeast Europe Ellen Goldstein.

The higher growth is becoming an influence in rising employment rates and a reduction of poverty in the region, Goldstein said at the presentation of the sixth regular World Bank economic report for Southeast Europe.

The projected 2016 economic growth in Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro is expected to reach 2.7 pct at regional level, as opposed to 2.2 pct in 2015.

The report also projects a moderate growth trend in 2017 as well, with Serbia expected to register annual growth rates of 2.8 pct and 3.5 pct in 2017 and 2018, respectively.