If this trend continues, the growth rate in mortgage credit should be substantially lower at the end of the year. Turning now to the outlook for the economy generally for this year and 2008, the Bank’s current projections are that output growth will moderate, though still remaining strong.
Overall growth this year is expected to be about 5 per cent, in terms of both GDP and GNP. The data for the early part of this year suggest that growth was probably in excess of these levels but there are two factors that will act to reduce growth somewhat as the year progresses and into next year.