Serbia Invests in Infrastructure

This year, the Serbian government will invest more than one billion euros in the construction of new infrastructures and in the technical and technological modernization of existing ones. Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic told the Politika newspaper that “the development of infrastructure and public services is among the priorities of Ana Brnabic’s government.”

As for the details of these major investments, Vesic said that in 2024, “construction work for approximately 170 kilometers of highways and 108 kilometers of new high-speed rail will be completed.” It has already connected the capital Belgrade with Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city. In the future, it will be extended to Budapest, the capital of neighboring Hungary. Moreover, over the last 10 years, the share of the construction industry in Serbia’s GDP has increased from 3% in 2013 to 5.5% last year.

However, the problem of cost of living remains very acute. According to estimates by the Faculty of Economics at the University of Belgrade, the inflation rate in Serbia has risen to 25% in the last two years. This is one of the highest rates in the Europe. Consumer price growth in Serbia accelerated from 11.9% in 2022 to 12.1% last year. According to economist Dejan Soskic, despite the Serbian government’s best efforts to “put prices on a leash,” the inflation rate was four times higher than the target set by the Central Bank of Serbia (NBS).