The head of the parliamentary club of the SD and representative of the European Union, Boris Mugoša, commented on the state of the Montenegrin economy in a discussion at the ministerial hour in the Parliament of Montenegro.
He stated several facts that speak of the vulnerability of the Montenegrin economy, which, as he points out, "is growing but not developing and does not have adequate institutional support."
As reported by SD, Mugoša states that according to certain researches, micro-enterprises, which are the basis of the economy because they make up 93 percent of the total number of enterprises and employ about 41 percent of the workforce in the real sector, face serious challenges. This is indicated by the fact that in the last five years the mentioned companies have been operating at a loss, as well as the fact that in addition to the significant growth in the number of these companies in the last few years, their capital is today a quarter (25%) less than in 2019.
It emphasizes another very indicative segment of our economy, which is the foreign trade deficit, which, according to MONSTAT data, is around 3 billion euros for the first ten months. Exports of goods had a value of 479,8 million euros, and imports 3 million euros. Compared to the same period of the previous year, exports were lower by 401,3 percent, and imports were higher by 15 percent, while the coverage of imports by exports amounted to 6,3 percent and is lower compared to the same period of the previous year, when it was 14,1 percent.
"When it comes to the business environment, the ease of doing business in Montenegro, according to the analyzes of the Council of Foreign Investors, has an average rating of 6,5, which is significantly less than in 2019, when the rating was 6,9. What is of particular concern are the business conditions in tourism, which in this year received the worst rating since the survey was conducted (14 years), namely 6,1, the same as in 2020, when activities in to this sector because it was the year of the covid-19 pandemic. Also, in the budget of Montenegro, the item related to improving the competitiveness of the economy was reduced from almost 6 million a few years ago to 4 million euros," Mugoša said.
He points out that the illiquidity of the Montenegrin economy is one of the most serious challenges and states that compared to 2019, 2700 more companies are blocked and the amount of blocked debt has doubled.
"The Montenegrin economy desperately needs a serious development strategy that will clearly define the necessary structural reforms for the next ten years that will contribute to its diversification, improving its liquidity, competitiveness and productivity", concludes Mugoša.
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