Great Recession in Europe

By Nikos Roussanoglou

Construction in Greece has suffered one of the biggest declines to have been recorded by any professional sector within just a few years, as business activity in the domain has dropped as much as 80 percent since 2008, a study by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) showed on Monday.

Governments cannot rely solely on low inflation and easy monetary policy to consolidate recovery and boost employment even though growth prospects are improving in the world's largest economies, the Paris-based OECD said on March 18.

The latest Ernst & Young forecast for the eurozone shows an almost doubling of growth in 2015, to 1.5 percent from 0.9 percent in 2014, mainly due to slumping oil prices and the recently announced “Quantitative Easing” (QE). A figure of 1.8 percent is forecast for 2016.

Cyprus?s GDP contracted by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared with 0.9 percent in the previous three months, beating a flash estimate made last month, official figures showed on Wednesday.

As a result, the economy suffered its 14th successive quarterly contraction, according to figures from the state statistical service.

It looks like the trouble in growth rates that began in 2014 will extend into this year also, as the January industrial production data that was announced at the beginning of the week was quite lower than expected.   

KOPAONIK - The negative economic growth rate will continue in the first quarter of this year and the positive growth is expected to start in the second quarter and last by the end of the year, Finance Minister Dusan Vujovic said on Tuesday.

The Greek cash crunch inflicted more losses on local lenders’ stocks on Monday, with the banks index losing almost 10 percent (down 9.91 percent) and the bourse benchmark declining for the fourth session in a row.

Serbia's annual GDP down 1.8 percent

BELGRADE -- Serbia's GDP at constant prices in 2014, obtained as the sum of four quarters, decreased by 1.8 percent, compared to 2013, the Statistical Office said.

Greece's economy contracted more than originally estimated in the last quarter of 2014 compared with the previous three-month period, a revised estimate by the ELSTAT statistics service showed on Friday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a three-year loan program worth EUR 1.2 B for Serbia.

The Serbian government intends to treat the program as precautionary, according to a media statement of the IMF.