The Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) maintained its estimate for annual growth of 2.4% in real terms in 2023, despite the slowdown of the European economy, high inflation rates, a tighter fiscal and monetary policy as well as the climate of uncertainty.
Consumption is expected to contribute significantly to growth, with an annual increase of 1.6%, combined with an annual increase of 3.0% in investments. The current account deficit is expected to slightly improve, with exports and imports rising annually by 3.5% and 2.6% respectively in 2023.
IOBE estimated that 2024 growth rates will be at the same levels (2.4%). However, investments are expected to exceed this year’s performance, with higher annual expansion in 2024 (+7.8%) while consumption is expected to slow (+1.0%). A small improvement is also expected in the current account, with exports and imports increasing annually by +2.6% and +2.3% respectively.
