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Saturday, 20.04.2024, 12:33
Danske Bank expects Latvian GDP to grow 3.9% in 2017
In 2018, Danske Bank projects the
Latvian economy to expand by 3.2% and in 2019 to increase by 3.4%.
"[Latvia's] growth this year is the fastest since the first half of
2012. This also makes Latvia one of the most rapidly expanding economies in the
EU," the bank said in the report, adding that Latvia's economic growth in
the second quarter of 2017 was the same as in the first quarter of the year – 4%
year-on-year.
The bank's experts also note that this year the Latvian economy has been
showing much more balanced growth than in previous years. The key driver behind
growth is consumption, which grew by 4.9% year-on-year in the first half of
this year and which is primarily being fuelled by fast growth in wages (+7.9%
year-on-year in the first half of 2017).
Equally important this year is strong export performance. Exports of goods
and services in the first half of 2017 expanded by 6.5% year-on-year. Exports
grew most to Russia, Germany and Sweden, Danske
Bank observed.
"Investment this year has also rebounding after two consecutive years
of contraction. Investment in the first half of 2017 expanded by 18.5%
year-on-year and was driven by higher EU funding, high capacity utilization
rates and increasing business sentiment," Danske Bank said in the report.