SKOPJE, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its forecast for Macedonia's 2017 economic growth down to 1.9 percent from 3.2 percent projected in April, according to its latest Regional Economic Outlook report.
IMF said in the report that it had also cut its forecast for Macedonia's growth in 2018, down to 3.2 percent from 3.4 percent it had predicted previously.
According to IMF projection, Macedonia's economy is expected to grow by 3.4 percent, in 2019.
In terms of inflation, the IMF said it expected Macedonia to swing to average annual inflation of 0.3 percent in 2017, from 0.2 percent deflation in 2016.
Inflation is seen at 2.6 percent in 2018 and 1.9 percent in 2019, as the report showed.
A few days ago, the European Commission also lowered its forecast for Macedonia's 2017 economic growth, noting that political crisis in first half of the year was the main obstacle to higher growth rate.
