18 January 2019 - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development invested last year around 1,1 billion EUR in the countries of the Western Balkans, reads the report of this financial institution.
While presenting results and plans, they pointed out their commitment to the Western Balkans by investing in 67 projects last year. One year earlier, in 2017, the support was provided for 57 projects which required more than 700 million EUR.
“The Bank has set very ambitious objectives for 2019 as well since it is raising the level of support for the global development by 2030,” stated the representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Apart from infrastructure projects, they particularly point out that they continued investing in projects that were supposed to change the financial climate; even 36% of the resources were used for the so-called “green economy” whose objective is to contribute to the reduction of risk of the environmental impact. By the end of this year, they will have invested in the same type of project at least 40% of the total investments granted.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the largest financial investor in Montenegro and since 1991, has invested more than 530 million EUR in a variety of approximately 50 projects. The Montenegrin portfolio in this company was estimated at 350 million EUR in 2018.
"The sustainability of public finances is a significant concern and among the greatest risks facing the country. In the fight against ever-increasing fiscal pressures, a new Fiscal Strategy was adopted in June 2017, which contained a series of measures, including VAT and excise tax, official’s salary cuts, improvement of tax collection and the abolition of maternity allowances with three or more children, adopted by the Parliament a year earlier. The main goal of the Strategy is to achieve the primary budget surplus from 2019 and the overall budget surplus from 2020. This should set the public debt to a declining path, which has rapidly increased to more than 70 percent of GDP in the recent years," the Transition Report of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for Montenegro stated.
