Slovakia and Greece Look Set to Avoid Recession

UK 21 August 2009 - It was headline news earlier this month when it was revealed that two of Europe's biggest economies, France and Germany had emerged from recession with a positive growth of 0.3% in the second quarter.

But quietly in the background two other economies also recorded positive growth in the second quarter, Greece of 0.3% and Slovakia an impressive 2.2%. What is even more impressive about the two is that their positive growth in the second quarter means that they have thus far avoided falling into recession.

Greece has not recorded negative growth in any quarter though growth has slowed to a crawl in the last 12 months, and Slovakia has only recorded negative growth in one quarter; the first quarter of this year.

What's more there are clear signs that Europe as a whole is emerging from recession, on the back of Asia and Latin America's continued growth in some countries and regional recoveries. So there is no reason to suspect that the two economies will fall back into negative growth in this year, and therefore it is entirely possible that they will avoid recession altogether during the international crisis.