The Israeli economy grew only 0.3% in the second quarter, compared with 2% in the first quarter (revised downward from the earlier 2.1% estimate) and 6% in the fourth quarter of 2014 (revised downward from 6.5%), according to figures published today by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Growth lagged far behind the forecasts by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel, which predicted that the economy would grow by 3.2%.
GDP grew by 2.6% in the first half of 2015 in annualized terms, compared with 2.5% and 2.4% in the second and first halves of 2014, respectively.
Excluding net import taxes, GDP grew 3.1% in the first half of the year, compared with 2.3% and 2.4% in the second and first halves of 2014, respectively.
The slight increase in GDP in the second quarter reflects moderate annualized rises of 0.9% in private consumption, 0.4% in public consumption, and annualized declines of 3.8% in investments in fixed assets and 12.5% in exports of goods and services.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 16, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015