"The economic problems in the eurozone are having an increasingly strong impact on the Swiss economy"
- Hartmann of VP Bank
Swiss economy expanded more than initially expected in the third quarter as government spending rose and exports held up despite the strong Swiss franc. Nation's economy expanded by 0.6% in July- September period reversing a marginal contraction in the second quarter, when economy shrank by 0.1%. The reading came above analysts' expectations, which projected a 0.2% increase. On yearly basis, GDP rose 1.4%, compared with a forecast for 0.9% and the government now expects Swiss economy to expand by 1% in 2012. In the meanwhile, government spending rose 1.7% on the quarter, while exports from the country added 0.5%.
"It is doubtful that Switzerland is already on a sustainable recovery path. The economic problems in the eurozone are having an increasingly strong impact on the Swiss economy," Hartmann of VP Bank said.
"The numbers were surprisingly good, we expected a negative quarter on quarter result, we expected Switzerland to be in a technical recession," Cornelia Luchsinger, an economist at ZKB.
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