"The Economist": growth rate for Israel in 2004 - 3.3%

The London-based weekly "The Economist" predicted last week a 3.3% growth for Israel's economy in 2004 and a further 3.6% growth rate in 2005.
 
The figures published by the weekly paper show that the Israeli economy is struggling, at present, to achieve its growth potential. The figures indicated by "The Economist" are well below the Ministry of Finance's projections, published last month, of 4.1% growth for the year 2004 and 3.8% for 2005.
 
The macroeconomic forecasts compiled by The Economist includes forecasts by the economists of ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank, the analysts at The Economist, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase, ING Financial, Merrill Lynch, UBS and Warburg.
 
The survey included forecasts for 25 developing economies. Venezuela, which is expected to grow by 12.9 percent this year, topped the list. China, according to the magazine, follows, with 9.3% growth expected in 2004 and 7.9% in 2005. Israel, is ranked 24th out of 25 emerging economies, ahead of South Africa. "The Economist" believes that Egypt will have higher growth rate than Israel: 3.7% in 2004 and 4.2% in 2005.