Summary

□ GDP growth this year will be broadly in line with the February forecast of 2.1%, but taking into consideration the fast rebound in exports, it may be slightly above the previous forecast.

  ▪ In the domestic economy, exports have been recovering at a rapid pace aided by an upturn in the IT cycle as well as a strong US economy. However, due to the high level of interest rates and cost of living, households and domestic demand-oriented firms are not experiencing the recovery.

□ The deceleration in consumer price inflation has stalled somewhat, and further monitoring of price developments is required in order to gain greater confidence that inflation is falling back to target.

  ▪ Core inflation has been falling gradually, as expected, while deceleration in the headline inflation has stalled due to higher oil and agricultural product prices.