The economic growth (of the Gross domestic Product) stood at a level of around 6.5% in the first half of this year, estimated Varujan Vosganian, Economy and Finance Minister yesterday, according to Mediafax.
The minister said the economy had picked up the pace in the second quarter, after witnessing an increase of only 6% in the first quarter. The overall economy increased by 7.4% in the first half of last year, thanks to the better than expected performance of the industry.
In the end, industry continued to increase significantly in the first half of this year. Industrial output increased by 6.8% in May, rebounding from a mere 2.3% rate registered in April. The industrial output maintained above the official estimates for the first five months, posting a 6.4% growth according to the national Statistics Institute.
In its spring bulletin, the National Forecast Commission (CNP) estimated that industrial output would increase by 5.8% this year, slightly down on last year, when it saw an increase of 7.1%. Although the official estimates reveal a possible slowdown, in 2007 industry started out better than in the previous year registering a 6.4% growth rate for the first five months, compared with only 5.9% in 2006.
This year, not only the industrial sector is doing much better than expected, but also the construction sector.
The real growth rate (above inflation) for the first five months of the construction market stood at 31.8%, double that registered at the same time last year. For 2007, the construction sector is witnessing one of the highest growth rates of the last seventeen years, with the market approaching 9 billion euros, compared with last year's 6.5 billion euros.
On the other hand, retail, which is indicative of consumer spending, posted a much lower growth rate than last year. Retail sales only increased by 7.6% in the
