NBS: Investors see Serbia as investment-grade country

BELGRADE - An upgrade of Serbia’s outlook by the Standard & Poor's rating agency was the main topic of the meetings a Serbian delegation had with many international investors during a recent visit to the US.

In a statement, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) said investors were "unanimous in their expectation that in the coming period, our country will be assigned investment grade, at which Serbia has already been valued by market participants in recent years."

"All investors think that raising the outlook is only the first step towards reaching investment grade and this shows with how much credibility and responsibility we work on developing our economy to the benefit of our citizens and businesses”, said NBS Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic.

"Many topics were discussed at the meetings, including monetary developments, past and expected inflation dynamics, exchange rate stability, general financial system stability and expectations regarding further interest rate movements.

It was pointed out that in making its decisions, the NBS will analyse trends in the international environment but, above all, domestic macroeconomic and financial indicators, the inflation profile and the specificities of our economy, as well as that it will continue to implement a responsible and cautious monetary policy that ensures continuity in terms of both stability of the domestic financial system and predictability of the business environment," the statement said.

"The meetings with investors touched also on an array of topics concerning public finances and their sustainability, the downward trend of the share of public debt in GDP, record-high FDIs, FX reserves, and gold reserves, the Leap into the Future – Serbia 2027 programme, financing plans, energy transition, artificial intelligence etc., their common denominator being the recognition garnered from members of the global investment community," it also said.

"Investors’ interest in Serbia is greater than ever, and so is the number of meetings we had during our stay in the United States.

Serbia is now a distinct destination on the global investment map, and by obtaining the expected investment grade, we will receive a formal confirmation that we are a country with high investment certainty.

The road to that is not easy and was especially challenging during the previous four years, replete with world crises and uncertainty, but that’s what makes this recognition of Serbia by the international investment community even more significant," Tabakovic said.