Strane direktne investicije kao izvor finansiranja privrednog razvoja zemalja jugoistočne Evrope

Abstract

The paper analyzes the sources of Southeastern European countries' economic development financing - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania, Macedonia, and Serbia in the period from year 2009 to year 2018. The research focus is on the one hand directed towards the analysis of the economic growth rate, the share of domestic savings and the current account balance. On the other hand, particular attention in the analysis is given to the data on the dynamics of foreign direct investment. The analysis in the paper indicates that due to the lack of domestic savings and difficulties with foreign borrowing, in the observed period, foreign direct investment was the most represented source of financing for economic development. The analysis for the SEE countries also shows that the lack of domestic savings caused the unfavorable structure of foreign direct investment flows with the end result of a low economic growth rate. When it comes to the relevance of foreign direct investment for the long-term economic development of Southeastern European countries, the paper concludes that a more active development policy is needed, aimed at increasing the share of domestic savings in gross domestic product as well as the growth of the domestic investment. Simply put, in present circumstances, it is unrealistic to rely heavily on foreign investments.