No upswing in sight

There is still no upturn in the US economy anywhere in sight. According to Standard & Poor’s rating agency, the current weak phase will not bottom out before March 2009. The expectation is for gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 2 per cent in the third quarter of 2008, but for it to shrink in the following two quarters. The agency forecasts that GDP will grow by 1.6 per cent in 2008 and by 0.7 per cent in 2009. In the experts’ opinion, private consumption will increase by 1.7 per cent in 2008, which is the lowest rate of growth since the crisis year 1991. The situation on the American housing market still remains precarious. It is estimated that around 2.9 mio households will lose their homes because they are unable to keep up with payments.