December 15 (SeeNews) - Moldova's economy contracted by a real 7.7% on the year in the first nine months of 2009 compared to a 7.6% growth a year earlier, the country's statistics office said on Tuesday.
In the third quarter alone, the country's GDP shrank by 7.5% after expanding 10.8% a year ago, the statistics office said in a statement.
Calculated in current prices, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) totalled 44.166 billion lei ($3.6 billion/2.5 billion euro) in the first nine months, the office said.
The gross value added fell by 8.3% in January-September compared to a 7.2% rise in the same period a year earlier.
Final consumption fell by 7.2% on the year in January to September, as household consumption decreased by 9.2%. Gross capital formation was 53.2% down on the year in the first nine months.
Among the macroeconomic indicators that had a negative impact on the nine-month GDP are: a 30.8% annual fall in the construction sector and 23.3% decrease in industry. The transport and communications sector was down by 14.8%
Exports and imports, calculated in U.S. dollars, fell by 11.8% and 24.6%, respectively, in January-September, the office said.
In November, Moldova's government reversed its forecast of a real 6.0% economic growth this year to a 9.0% contraction. It also lowered its end-year inflation forecast for 2009 to 0.5% from 9.5% projected earlier.
(1 euro=17.8871 Moldovan lei)