Guys - the quarter 2 gdp figures are just starting to come in... Poland 6.7% (I've seen recent projections of between 4 and 5%) so this appears to be accelerating Hungary 1.4% (see some previous posts about this...) Euroland 2.5% (Spain 4%, France 1.3%) Germany 2.5% (but de-accelerting) Slovakia 9.2% (very high - but steady) Estonia 7.3% (slowing from around 9%) China 11.9% and UK 3%. ... if only we could predict the GDP in 6 months time too... Cheers Neil

Hi Neil These are interesting figures, aren't they. That UK one, especially, considering we've seen a sudden drop in inflation as well. Estonia, too, is fascinating - can it cool from its previously red hot pace without a sudden and damaging correction? And, if it does, can seriously over-heating Latvia follow suit? Personally I doubt Latvia can - it's too firmly locked into high wage growth inflation. Hungary is pretty much as we'd expect and it will probably slow even further. When, then, will be the time to go in to this market? Certainly not until the current credit markets turmoil has calmed - Hungary could be hit hard by the credit crunch. And, finally, to my mind, Slovakia's growth looks very high. But, then again, it still has very manageable inflation (around 2.3 - 2.5%) and so long as that growth is from exports, as before, then it's probably OK and inflation will stay within EU perameters and we'll see Slovakia as the second of the accession countries after Slovenia to adopt the euro. How much of a boost will that be?