Press Release: Quarterly euro-area GDP growth projections suggest a more moderate GDP growth over the next three quarters

The dynamic factor model for quarterly GDP growth in the euro area, developed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, projects GDP growth in the range of 0.4% to 0.8% for the third quarter of 2006 and 0.2% to 0.7% for the fourth quarter. The projected range for GDP growth in the first quarter of 2007 is 0.0% to 0.5%. Compared to the previous release (14 August), the projected growth ranges are lower.