Economic growth will be limited to 1% next year, a quarter of a percentage point lower than earlier forecast, says the government’s central planning office CPB on Tuesday.

The outlook for consumer spending power is also more sombre according to the latest CPB figures, which warn that almost all households face having less cash in 2009. Initially the CPB said only those on minimum incomes would have 1% less to spend next year.
Inflation is set to rise to 3.8%, 0.3 percentage point higher than earlier CPB estimates.
Ministers are due to start discussions on next year’s budget on Wednesday, based on the revised figures.
The national statistics office CBS is due to report second-quarter growth figures on Thursday.