Macro roundup: Lowering the thermostat
Industrial output is contracting, but Greek manufacturing is still growing
It’s been a quiet week for Greek economic data releases, with just December’s industrial production figures to report.
These showed that industrial output dropped 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the fourth straight month of contraction. However, manufacturing output increased 5.6 percent, and has been expanding throughout these months.
What has been driving the overall industrial production index down is a big drop in electricity supply, which was 21.9 percent lower in December than a year earlier. This drop is partly attributable to mild weather at the start of the winter, but also — following the horror electricity and heating bills of the year before — people are taking greater care of how much they consume.
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Next week’s key releases
Wednesday, Feb. 15:
January consumer prices (Elstat)
January central government preliminary budget execution (Finance Ministry)
Elsewhere on the web
The prime minister is under fire after Politico reported on a secret Saudi offer to pay for stadiums in Greece and Egypt as part of a joint World Cup bid.
Raising capital on Greece’s stock exchange continues to be problematic.
A deeper look at the factors driving Greece’s trade deficit.
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