Specialists of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the past five years have worsened forecasts for GDP dynamics in several countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe due to economic problems, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, Report informs referring to the IMF website.
“Turning to growth, the region is facing deep economic scarring. We compared our current projections to our forecast for the region before the pandemic—while excluding Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Here is what we found: real GDP levels in 2024 are projected to be 3.5 percent lower than what we had expected at the beginning of 2020. It is like taking €50 billion out of peoples’ pockets over these five years,” she noted. “What has all this meant for the region’s economy? Persistently high inflation and weak growth. Headline inflation has been falling since late 2022, but it is still painfully high, and core inflation has yet to show clear signs of decline. We project inflation will stay well above central bank targets past 2024.”