Moldova's H1 GDP Shrinks by Real 7.8% Y/Y

In the second quarter alone, the GDP shrank by 8.6% after rising 6.2% a year ago, the statistics office said in a statement.

Calculated in current prices, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) totalled 27.869 billion lei ($2.5 billion/1.7 billion euro) in the first half, the office said.

The gross value added fell by 7.0% in the first six months compared to a 5.0% rise in the same period a year earlier.

Final consumption fell by 8.2% on the year in January to June, as household consumption decreased faster, by 10.4%. Gross capital formation was 59% down on the year in the first half.

Among the macroeconomic indicators that had a negative impact on the first-half GDP are: a 24.9% annual fall in industrial production, a 31.9% decrease in the construction sector and a 55.7% drop in freight traffic, the office said. Retail sales were down by 4.5% on the year.

Exports and imports, calculated in U.S. dollars, fell by 20.7% and 35.8%, respectively, in the first half, the office said.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development expects Moldova's economy to contract by 6.0% in 2009, under its latest forecast. The International Monetary Fund has forecast a 9.0% contraction in Moldova’s 2009 GDP in real terms.

(1 euro=16.4125 Moldovan lei)