The Montenegrin economy will have the highest growth in the region this year, at 3.5%. This is the forecast of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, according to which our economy will leave behind Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, whose economy is predicted to grow the lowest at 1.3%.
These forecasts are not surprising, says the current Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Goran Đurović.
– According to the latest forecasts of economic institutions and institutes, the growth of the Montenegrin economy will be among the highest in Europe. The flywheel of further economic growth that was achieved in the first quarter, of 6.1%, and the strong growth of tourist traffic led to an increase in the general level of economic activity, while growth was also recorded in complementary activities such as trade, transport and other service activities.
Đurović also emphasizes that there are a significant number of foreign citizens temporarily residing in our country, whose consumption is registered and, as he says, represents an opportunity for the domestic economy.
Economists believe that the consumption of both foreigners and the local population had a key impact on the growth of economic activities.
Economist Mirza Mulešković believes that the biggest contribution to this GDP growth was the increase in population consumption, which has been present since last year when we had the tax reform.
– We should not be satisfied with a growth of 3.5%, because in addition to that, we have inflation in Montenegro, which has increased all prices and costs, we have over 100,000 foreigners on temporary residence in Montenegro who are spending money and who have opened their own companies – he added he is.
This, adds Mulešković, is a consequence of the war in Ukraine, and not of internal efforts and work to strengthen the real economy.
– We have to avoid that short-term view of indicators, because the same reports show that already in 2025, real GDP growth will be 2.9 percent, which puts us in last place in relation to the countries of the region – he concluded.
Đurović, on the other hand, says that they are recording excellent indicators of employment, number of overnight stays, tourist traffic and growth in gross wages, and that they expect this year’s growth to exceed the forecasted 3.5%.
