Bank of Portugal Sees Deeper Economic Contraction in 2012
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Portugal’s central bank said the economy will contract more than previously forecast in 2012 and won’t grow next year as consumer spending drops and export growth eases.
Gross domestic product will fall 3.4 percent this year after declining 1.6 percent in 2011, the Bank of Portugal said today in its spring economic bulletin. In January, the bank forecast GDP would decrease 3.1 percent in 2012, also a bigger drop than previously estimated, and predicted that the economy would expand 0.3 percent in 2013.