” “The Central Bank warns the EU about the economic slowdown of 2008 and 2009. At the same time, Eurotower gives the alert about inflation, which, according to the February ECB bulletin, is expected reach about 2.5% during the year. "Uncertainty about potential growth is unusually high explain the economists of the Frankfurt institute , and risks for economy have been confirmed to be downward". Economy in the euro-zone (15 countries) should grow by 1.8% in 2008 and by about 2% in 2009. In Brussels, today, Eurostat disclosed the results of a quick survey of the Gross Domestic Product for the last quarter of 2007. In the euro-zone, it increased by 0.4% more than the previous quarter, while in the 27 member states it increased by 0.5%. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the GDP of the single-currency area records +2.3% and that of the 27 member states +2.6%. In the USA, the GDP has grown instead at a pace of 2.5%, and in Japan by 1.8%. The surveys conducted by the Statistics Office of the EU Commission match those of the ECB, which see the European economy slowing down. The liveliest countries are still the Eastern ones, with Slovakia, Latvia and Lithuania top of the list with their 10% growth rates.
