Eurostat gives “dismal” forecast for eurosone GDPFebruary 14, 2012 - 15:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Union's statistical agency on Tuesday, February 14 offered another sign of gloom for the eurozone, as it reported that industrial production in the currency bloc had declined again in December, falling by 1.1 per cent on a monthly basis, M&C reported, citing DPA. The index has been on a downward path since September. However, Eurostat revised its figures for November, indicating that industrial production had stayed flat that month rather than having declined by 0.1 per cent, as was estimated in January. Martin Van Vliet, an analyst from ING Bank, said the latest figures are “likely” to feed into “pretty dismal” forecasts for the eurozone's gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2011, which Eurostat is due to publish on Wednesday. “We expect the eurozone economy to have contracted by around 0.4 per-cent quarter-to-quarter in the final three months of last year,” he said in a note. In the 27-member EU, the monthly drop in industrial production was less pronounced, falling only by 0.6 per cent. On a yearly basis, the index slipped by 2 per cent in the eurozone and by 0.6 per cent in the EU. The worst yearly figures were recorded by Greece (-12.4 per cent), Luxembourg (-9.6 per cent) and Portugal (-8.9 per cent), while Poland (10 per cent), the Czech Republic (4.4 per cent) and Latvia (3.2 per cent) had the best performances. In Germany - the EU's biggest economy - the index fell by 0.7 per cent. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Armenia, Turkey discuss restoration of historic bridge The meeting took place on May 17 in Ashgabat on the sidelines of an international conference of ministers of culture. EU welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan “progress” The EU has welcomed “progress” made in the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process. Belarus opposition leader slams Lukashenko for Karabakh trip Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has harshly criticized the visit of Lukashenko to Karabakh. Mkhitaryan raises arrest of former Karabakh leaders in Azerbaijan Inter Milan star Henrikh Mkhitaryan has shared a news story about the extension of the arrest of former Karabakh leaders. |