Montenegro’s 9-Mo GDP Grows by Real 8.0%, Trade Deficit at 1.3 Bln Euro

He gave no comparative year-ago figures.

The real rise of the gross domestic product (GDP) was 8.0%, while the government’s projection was 7.0%, which shows that the Montenegrin economy is growing despite the global financial crisis, Lazovic told a news conference on Thursday.

Montenegro’s GDP grew by a real annual 8.0% in the first half of the year after a real rise of 8.1% on the year in the first quarter of 2008, earlier data from the country’s central bank showed.

Montenegro’s “chronic problem” is its high trade deficit, Lazovic said, adding the country’s trade balance in the first nine months was some 2.0 billion euro, as imports accounted for more than 1.6 billion euro of it.

Lazovic said Montenegro’s nine-month budget deficit accounted for 2.0% of the country’s GDP, while the foreign debt fell to 15.7% of the GDP. He gave no comparative figures.

($=0.7855 euro)