Euro zone growth rates for next quarters revised down

The European Commission on Wednesday revised down its projections for euro zone economic growth in the next three quarters.

GDP growth in the 12-nation bloc is projected to stand between 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent for the third quarter of 2006, and between 0.2 percent and 0.7 percent for the fourth quarter.

The projected range for GDP growth in the first quarter of 2007 is 0.0 percent to 0.5 percent.

The projected growth ranges are lower than the previous release on Aug. 14, when the euro zone GDP growth forecast was between 0.5 percent and 0.9 percent for the third quarter of 2006; between 0.4 percent and 0.9 percent for the fourth quarter; and between 0.2 percent and 0.8 percent for the first quarter of 2007.

Source: Xinhua