Montenegro's H1 GDP Shrinks 3.5% Y/Y, H1 C/A Gap Narrows 41% Y/Y – C-bank

Montenegro's GDP showed zero growth in the first quarter of 2009.

The current account deficit through June fell by an annual 41% to 393.8 million euro, or 24.8% of GDP. Despite the economic slowdown the deficit is expected to remain high by the end of the year at 15% to 20% of GDP, the central bank said in its quarterly bulletin.

The country's trade gap narrowed 38% on the year to 466 million euro in the first half of the year, while net foreign direct investment increased by an annual 1.1% to 323.5 million euro over the review period.

The Finance Ministry said in April it expects Montenegro's economic growth to be in the range of 0.0% to -2.5% this year compared to a contraction of 2.7% forecast by the International Monetary Fund.

The country’s economy grew by a preliminary 8.1% last year.

($=0.6759 euro)