Malta tops eurozone's economic growth charts
Malta has topped the eurozone's economic growth charts during the first half of the year, data released by rating agency DBRS shows.
With a growth rate of over 5%, Malta ranked first, followed by Latvia and Slovenia.
The average growth rate in the eurozone during the first half of the year stood at 2.3%.
DBRS said growth in the eurozone had a weak start to the year, but remained steady.
"Growth was driven by household consumption and gross fixed investment. By country, the top performers were Malta, Latvia, and Slovenia, while the under-performers included Italy, Belgium and France," DBRS said.
At 3.9%, Malta was also among the three countries with the lowest unemployment rate.
Germany registered the lowest rate of unemployment at 3.4%, while the Netherlands registered the same rate as Malta's.
At its September policy meeting, the European Central Bank (ECB) revised downwards its economic growth forecast for the eurozone in 2018 as a result of rising external risks.
The ECB had already cut its growth forecast to 2.1% from 2.4% in its June meeting.
The projection for 2019 was also revised downward to 1.8% from 1.9%.
DBRS said the eurozone inflation rate had risen to around 2%...
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