Western analysts made forecasts on eurozone economy for 2009

A drop in business activity has been observed in other countries, such as Italy and Spain. In general, the region's economy for the second quarter showed a negative growth of 0.1 percent. This figure, however, was better than expected. In the first quarter, recession in the region came to 2.5 percent.

The report from U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley says that there are several factors that influenced the growth of GDP, which include consumer spending, construction, which was restored after an unusually cold winter, and government spending on infrastructure.
 
The bank's analysts said that in the short term, there are chances for further growth in the eurozone economy. "Nevertheless, the current macroeconomic indicators do not allow us to significantly change our forecast for the region," says the report.

The U.S. bank's analysts predict that recession in the eurozone will amount to 4 percent in 2009 compared to 4.4 percent forecast previously.

Forecasts for economic growth in the region in 2010 were slightly modified - from 0.5 to 0.6 percent.

Analysts from the British leading consulting company Capital Economics believe that the worst of economic downturn is already behind us.

"However, the uncertainty of significant growth in exports in the short term and the still weak domestic demand rules out a V-shaped recovery of the economy," said economist on Europe Ben May.

According to the British company's analysts, the growth of the eurozone economy will be 0.5 percent. At the end of this year, the fall in the region's economy will amount to four percent compared to the five percent, which had been expected earlier.

/Trend Capital/