The gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, compared to 9 percent in the third quarter and 13 percent in 2007. This dragged down the annual growth rate for 2008 to a seven-year-low of 9 percent.
The economic growth is likely bottoming out in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, the U.S. investment bank said.
In the first quarter, export growth could fall further, but domestic demand is likely to gain some momentum, it said, adding that the two forces will offset each other and lead to a GDP growth similar to the fourth quarter.
"After that, rise in domestic demand will likely outpace the fall in external demand, and we expect growth to pick up from the second quarter and we are quite confident about an 8 percent GDP growth in 2009," the bank said.
2009年1月29日星期四
2009年1月16日星期五
EU threatens WTO
Earlier Thursday, the United States announced changes to sanctions it applies to EU goods in retaliation for the bloc's ban on U.S. hormone-treated beef, escalating a longstanding trade dispute.
The decision updated the list of EU goods falling under punitive duties, deleting some and adding dozens of new products including oats, sausages and mineral water. It also allowed Washington to revise, every six months, the list of goods subject to sanction.
Outgoing U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab made it clear that the move was to pressure the EU to drop its ban on U.S. hormone-treated beef.
"For over a decade, we have been trying to resolve this dispute with the EU but our efforts have gone nowhere," Schwab said in a statement.
"In these circumstances, I have decided it is time to modify the duties to try to encourage a resolution of this longstanding dispute so as finally to provide a fair outcome to the U.S. beef industry, while addressing the economic impact of such long-standing duties on U.S. interests," she added.
The EU ban on hormone-treated beef, which has been in place since the early 1980s, was challenged by the United States and Canada at the WTO in 1996.
The decision updated the list of EU goods falling under punitive duties, deleting some and adding dozens of new products including oats, sausages and mineral water. It also allowed Washington to revise, every six months, the list of goods subject to sanction.
Outgoing U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab made it clear that the move was to pressure the EU to drop its ban on U.S. hormone-treated beef.
"For over a decade, we have been trying to resolve this dispute with the EU but our efforts have gone nowhere," Schwab said in a statement.
"In these circumstances, I have decided it is time to modify the duties to try to encourage a resolution of this longstanding dispute so as finally to provide a fair outcome to the U.S. beef industry, while addressing the economic impact of such long-standing duties on U.S. interests," she added.
The EU ban on hormone-treated beef, which has been in place since the early 1980s, was challenged by the United States and Canada at the WTO in 1996.
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