Serbs Unveil Spending Spree to Fuel Growth, Catch Up With EU
- Investment plan includes energy, roads, agriculture, housing
- Balkan nation is heading toward general elections in spring
A copper mining and smelting complex, in Bor, Serbia.
Photographer: Oliver Bunic/BloombergSerbia will spend almost 14 billion euros ($15.7 billion) through 2025 as the government seeks to double the rate of economic growth, bringing it into line with the European Union and raising living standards.
The new investments were announced as the Balkan nation heads for general elections in late April or early May, and President Aleksandar Vucic is eager to depict Serbia as a desirable place to live while trying to stem a demographic outflow. The economy remains smaller than in 1990, the last year before the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia, according to a World Bank report earlier this month. The economies of Serbia’s central and eastern European peers are now on average 80% larger.