Publication: Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No.22, Fall 2022: Beyond the Crises
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Date
2022-10
ISSN
Published
2022-10
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The economies of the Western Balkans
continue to face a turbulent external environment, placing
households, firms, and governments under acute stress. Just
as the post-COVID recovery of 2021 began to fade and the
region returned to a normalized rate of economic growth, the
Western Balkan region now faces a new combination of
challenges. The war in Ukraine, and the resultant sharp
increase and energy prices and slowdown in global growth, is
weighing on economic performance in all six economies.
Higher energy and food prices have pushed inflation to
levels unseen for many years, eroding purchasing power and
business confidence. Monetary tightening in advanced
economies is pushing up financing costs and weakening
external demand. Following a strong rebound in 2021, growth,
although still robust, was on a decelerating path in the
first half of 2022. In Q1 of 2022, the Western Balkan
economies remained resilient overall, supported by sizable
policy actions at the EU, euro area, and national levels.
First-quarter growth was particularly strong in
tourism-based economies and in Serbia. However, growth
decelerated in Q2, as countries had to deal with the direct
consequences of the war and is projected to continue
decelerating in the second half of the year reflecting
higher base levels of growth in Q3 and Q4 2021 and the
stronger global headwinds.
Citation
“World Bank. 2022. Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No.22, Fall 2022: Beyond the Crises. © Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38189 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”