Israeli GDP in 2Q grew at 4.2% annual pace

The increase in first half product in 2008 is based primarily on a rise in exports of goods and services, which rose 10.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis
 
The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported in an e-mailed report last week that the economy expanded at a 4.2% annualized rate in April-June. The second-quarter GDP growth was the slowest since the 2006 war in Lebanon, easing from 5.6% in the first quarter. Israeli Second-Quarter GDP grew faster than expected in the second quarter, as booming chemical and fertilizer sales drove exports.
 
According to the CBS, the increase in first half product in 2008 is based primarily on a rise in exports of goods and services, which rose 10.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis. Excluding diamonds and start-up companies, the figure reached 13.6%.
 
Israel's economy this year will probably expand at its slowest pace since 2003,with the Bank of Israel in June forecasting growth of 4.2%. That would still leave Israel ahead of the world's developed economies, which the International Monetary Fund said July 17 will grow 1.7% this year.
 
Israel's business GDP grew 4.9% in the second quarter from 6.5% in the first.
 
The CBS also noted that exports of goods and services grew at an annualized 6.6% in the second quarter, slowing from 11.2% in the first quarter. Imports of goods and services dropped at an annualized 8.6% rate, the first decline in the last five quarters.