Mali: Serbian inflation to be halved by end-2023

BELGRADE - Serbia's Finance Minister Sinisa Mali expects Serbian inflation to be halved from around 16 pct to 8 pct by the end of the year.

After that, reducing inflation from 8 pct to the previous 1.5-2 pct will, nevertheless, be a much more difficult task, Mali told Tanjug at the weekend.

"According to National Bank of Serbia projections, inflation will be halved by the end of the year," Mali said, noting that Serbia was seeing imported inflation, primarily due to the Ukraine conflict and a food and energy price hike.

He also said the central banks of the US, the EU, the UK, Japan and other countries including Serbia were raising their key policy rates and trying to use monetary policies to reduce inflation expectations and inflation.

"I think inflation in EU states is stabilising but there is always a time gap between us and them, and that is why I expect a gradual calming of inflation in our country, too," Mali added.

According to the latest figures released by the national statistical office, Serbian March inflation was 0.9 pct m-o-m and 16.2 pct y-o-y.