Chilean economy grew 4.8% during third trimester

SANTIAGO.- According to an announcement made today by the Central Bank, the Chilean economy reportedly grew by 4.8% this trimester when compared to the third trimester of last year.

The period included three workdays more than the same trimester last year, which helped to boost the result by 0.7 percentage points.

Analysts had forecasted an increase of 4.7% for the third trimester of this year.

In deseasonlized terms, activity dropped by 0.1% when compared to the second trimester of the year, while the yearly cyclical tendency reported an increase of 4.6%.

The GDP for the second trimester of 2008 was 4.5%, while the figure representing economic growth for the first trimester of the year was 3.3%.

Electricity, gas and water (EGA), Construction, Communications and Fishing were among the most dynamic economic activities, followed by Transportation and Commerce, restaurants and hotels, which reported a more moderate growth rate.

With regards to the effect each sector had on the final figure, the most significant contribution came from Construction, followed by Transportation and Commerce, restaurants and hotels.

Meanwhile, the Mining and Farming-Forestry industries shrank.