May 4 (SeeNews) - The World Bank has downgraded its forecast for the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of Montenegro in 2022 to 3.6% from 5.9% predicted earlier, due to impact of the war in Ukraine, it said on Wednesday.
The main impact of the war on Montenegro’s economy is through tourism which will further slowdown exports, private consumption, and employment recovery, the World Bank said in a statement after releasing its latest Western Balkans Regular Economic Report.
"Given global uncertainties and expected monetary tightening weighing on the cost of financing, Montenegro must accelerate structural reforms, including pension reforms, and be fiscally prudent to mitigate increasing risks of the Ukraine war on Montenegro’s service-based economy," Christopher Sheldon, World Bank Country Manager for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, said in the statement.
The World Bank projected the same rate of economic growth in 2022 for Montenegro in its Global Economic Prospects report published in January.
Montenegro’s economy bounced back strongly in 2021 with a growth rate of 12.4%, the highest rate among the six Western Balkan countries.
Economic growth for the Western Balkans region is forecast at 3.1% in 2022, down from 4.1% estimated in January. The region's GDP growth reached 7.4% in 2021, after a contraction of 3.2% in 2020.