Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery

Fiscal balances have started to improve as a result of a stronger economic performance, but it will take further effort to replenish buffers. The growth recovery is contributing to buoyant revenue collection across the region, particularly in value...

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Main Author:	World Bank
Format:	Report
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:	ECONOMIC RECOVERY ECONOMIC GROWTH LABOR MARKET POVERTY REDUCTION FISCAL POLICY INFLATION COVID-19 EXTERNAL SECTOR GREEN GROWTH PANDEMIC IMPACT CORONAVIRUS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/900381634670558017/Greening-the-Recovery http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36402

id	okr-10986-36402
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-364022022-05-03T17:58:16Z Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery World Bank ECONOMIC RECOVERY ECONOMIC GROWTH LABOR MARKET POVERTY REDUCTION FISCAL POLICY INFLATION COVID-19 EXTERNAL SECTOR GREEN GROWTH PANDEMIC IMPACT CORONAVIRUS Fiscal balances have started to improve as a result of a stronger economic performance, but it will take further effort to replenish buffers. The growth recovery is contributing to buoyant revenue collection across the region, particularly in value-added tax collections, as domestic consumption strengthens. Similarly, a leveling off of public spending in 2021 after the countercyclical surge of 2020 is helping on the expenditure side. As a result, all countries except Bosnia and Herzegovina expect to see a narrower fiscal deficit in 2021, with the average deficit reduced by 2.7 percent of GDP year-on-year. However, the deficits across all economies of the Western Balkans are still above pre-pandemic trends, and the legacy of the pandemic is a stock of public debt that has now reached historic highs in all countries except Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the recovery from COVID-19 takes hold, greater efforts will be needed to mobilize and diversify sources of revenue and to streamline expenditure programs, which in turn would help address fiscal vulnerabilities that have arisen during the crisis. In line with global conditions, inflationary pressures in the Western Balkans are on an upward trajectory. Average inflation is projected to reach 2.3 percent in 2021 from 0.9 percent in 2020. On the external side, strengthening demand in advanced economies is driving commodity prices upward and putting pressure on COVID-19-strained logistics networks and global value chains. Similarly, the faster-than-expected recovery in domestic consumption across the region has placed upward pressure on domestic costs, particularly in labor markets during the summer tourism season. 2021-10-26T18:53:13Z 2021-10-26T18:53:13Z 2021-10-20 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/900381634670558017/Greening-the-Recovery http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36402 English Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, 20 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Economic Updates and Modeling Economic & Sector Work Europe and Central Asia Eastern Europe Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo North Macedonia (Formerly the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) Montenegro Serbia
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	ECONOMIC RECOVERY ECONOMIC GROWTH LABOR MARKET POVERTY REDUCTION FISCAL POLICY INFLATION COVID-19 EXTERNAL SECTOR GREEN GROWTH PANDEMIC IMPACT CORONAVIRUS
spellingShingle	ECONOMIC RECOVERY ECONOMIC GROWTH LABOR MARKET POVERTY REDUCTION FISCAL POLICY INFLATION COVID-19 EXTERNAL SECTOR GREEN GROWTH PANDEMIC IMPACT CORONAVIRUS World Bank Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery
geographic_facet	Europe and Central Asia Eastern Europe Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo North Macedonia (Formerly the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) Montenegro Serbia
relation	Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, 20
description	Fiscal balances have started to improve as a result of a stronger economic performance, but it will take further effort to replenish buffers. The growth recovery is contributing to buoyant revenue collection across the region, particularly in value-added tax collections, as domestic consumption strengthens. Similarly, a leveling off of public spending in 2021 after the countercyclical surge of 2020 is helping on the expenditure side. As a result, all countries except Bosnia and Herzegovina expect to see a narrower fiscal deficit in 2021, with the average deficit reduced by 2.7 percent of GDP year-on-year. However, the deficits across all economies of the Western Balkans are still above pre-pandemic trends, and the legacy of the pandemic is a stock of public debt that has now reached historic highs in all countries except Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. As the recovery from COVID-19 takes hold, greater efforts will be needed to mobilize and diversify sources of revenue and to streamline expenditure programs, which in turn would help address fiscal vulnerabilities that have arisen during the crisis. In line with global conditions, inflationary pressures in the Western Balkans are on an upward trajectory. Average inflation is projected to reach 2.3 percent in 2021 from 0.9 percent in 2020. On the external side, strengthening demand in advanced economies is driving commodity prices upward and putting pressure on COVID-19-strained logistics networks and global value chains. Similarly, the faster-than-expected recovery in domestic consumption across the region has placed upward pressure on domestic costs, particularly in labor markets during the summer tourism season.
format	Report
author	World Bank
author_facet	World Bank
author_sort	World Bank
title	Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery
title_short	Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery
title_full	Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery
title_fullStr	Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery
title_full_unstemmed	Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery
title_sort	western balkans regular economic report, no. 20, fall 2021 : greening the recovery
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2021
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/900381634670558017/Greening-the-Recovery http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36402
_version_	1764485171204063232

Western Balkans Regular Economic Report, No. 20, Fall 2021 : Greening the Recovery

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