October 9 (SeeNews) - Credit rating agency D&B said on Tuesday it expects Slovenia’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by a real 5.9% this year, up from the earlier projected 4.8%, due to higher-then-expected growth in the first half of 2007.
The agency also raised its GDP growth forecast for next year to 4.8% from 4.4% previously, it said in a statement.
Slovenia, which joined the European Union in 2004 and entered the eurozone on January 1, 2007, reported a real 5.7% rise in GDP last year. Its economy grew in the first half of 2007 by a real 6.5% year-on-year.
D&B expects average annual inflation of 2.7% in Slovenia this year, up from the 2.2% it projected earlier. The agency maintainedt its 2008 inflation forecast at 2.4%.
Slovenia’s Statistics office said last month that the September consumer price index (CPI), calculated under EU methodology, rose by 3.6% year-on-year, and was 0.4% higher than a month earlier.