Fitch Ratings Confirms Credit Rating of Serbia at BB+

Just like this March, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings confirmed the credit rating of the Republic of Serbia at BB+ and estimated its prospects for a further increase as stable in its most recent report, published on September 3, 2021.

According to the website of the Ministry of Finance of Serbia, the Fitch Ratings agency says that Serbia’s credit rating is supported by a credible macroeconomic policy, which has preserved a low inflation, a stable foreign exchange rate, whereas the FX reserves were kept at a high level and amounted to EUR 14.6 billion at the end of July 2021, which is EUR 1.1 billion more than at the end of 2020.

The keeping of the credit rating at the same level confirms that, even in the pandemic conditions, Serbia has managed to maintain the stability of the economy, a strong financial sector, good exporting results and to preserve the jobs, it is added.

In the latest report, thanks to the strong recovery of local demand in the first half of 2021, the agency increased the estimate of the growth of the GDP in 2021 to 6.3%, which is far higher than the projection from March. Also, in the upcoming years, the GDP is expected to grow above the long-term trend.

Fitch believes that, after the sharp drop of the budget deficit to 1.3% of the GDP in the first half of 2021, its continuous reduction is expected in the 2021-2023 period thanks to the positive effects of the implementation of the government’s economy stimulus measures. The agency projects a drop of the budget deficit to 3.2% in 2022 and its further reduction to 1.9% in 2023.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministry of Finance of Serbia

Fitch Ratings

credit rating

BB plus credit rating

BB plus

inflation

foreign exchange rate

FX reserves

GDP

public debt

bonds

JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index