The real GDP growth rate in the April-June quarter marked a large increase of 3.9 percent on an annualized quarter-on-quarter basis, up from the previous quarter’s  1  When growth in imports exceeds that in exports, net exports (exports minus imports) decrease, pushing down GDP growth. The sharp increase in imports in the April-June quarter seems to have been only temporary.
BIS Review 154/2010  1  1.3 percent. The increase mainly reflects a steady growth in exports due in part to the depreciation of the euro. The economy, however, has been facing two challenges that have arisen from fiscal issues, and have intraregional disparities. The first issue concerns fiscal consolidation.