Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that he expects the country’s economic growth rate in the first quarter of this year to be between 2.1 and 2.2 percent. This is lower than initially planned, largely due to the crisis caused by blockades, with the service sector being hit hardest.
“I believe that the growth rate will be around 2.1 to 2.2 percent in the first three months. We will need significant efforts to reach 3.5 to 3.6 percent, which is still below the target set for the end of the year,” Vučić said to reporters during a visit to the works at the “Iriški venac” tunnel exit portal.
He attributed the lower-than-expected growth to the “crime committed against Serbia in the last six months.”
Vučić highlighted that the most significant decline occurred in the service sector, particularly in hospitality and tourism, which saw a drop of 22.8 percent in the first three months. He directly linked this downturn to the blockades, referring to them as “criminal actions” that harmed Serbia both from external and internal forces.
