Deputy Head of the EU delegation to Serbia Adriano Martins stated on Monday that the economic situation in Serbia is not bright and that there is a significant number of worrying signals.

He said that the projected GDP growth for 2012 was revised down to 1.5 percent (from 3 percent).

There is also a danger that the Serbian currency might weaken, the budget deficit increase, the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is now in question, and what is particularly worrying is the fact that the debt already runs at 45 percent of GDP or even above that percentage, Martins underlined.

He stressed that if Serbia were granted the EU candidate status on March 8, that would send a positive signal to the Serbian citizens. Moreover, it would be a signal for investors that the country has been making progress, and that as such it earns the respect of the EU, he added.

Martins recommended that Serbia should establish the free market and promote competition, rely less on the subsidies, regulate prices, reduce administrative costs and address the issue of public procurement.

We insist on amending the current Law on Public Procurement, and we must be sure that the Serbian government is committed to the fight against corruption, Martins said.

Deputy Head of the Serbian EU Integration Office Srdjan Majstorovic pointed to the fact that the Interim Trade agreement with the EU brought Serbia “noticeable and tangible benefits”.

For the first time since the 80s, we have an import-export ratio of 61 percent, which reflects a 20 percent increase on 2009, he noted.

The agreement also benefits exporters since, thanks to the trade liberalization, they managed to export the goods worth EUR 1.48 billion, he said.

Majstorovic noted that Serbia has achieved significant results in attracting investments, 70 percent of which comes from the EU (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark).

In 2010, we attracted EUR 1.3 billion , whereas Croatia and Slovenia together attracted the same sum, he noted, adding that in the first half of 2011, the figures were even better, showing that EUR 1.6 billion was pumped into Serbia, which exceeds by far the amount obtained by neighbouring countries.