In a report published Wednesday, Fitch said that the growth outlook for the ten east-central European countries that joined the EU in 2004-07 (CEE-10) is likely to remain subdued over the next 18 months.
Fitch forecasts that CEE-10 average weighted gross domestic product growth will slow to 1.6% in 2012 from 3.1% in 2011.
“The magnitude of the slowdown is expected to be similar to that of the eurozone, the region’s main trade and investment partner,” the rating agency said.
The 10 economies in the CEE region are Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
Fitch estimates almost all CEE-10 countries will post economic growth in 2012, except for Hungary, whose economy is expected to shrink 0.5%, and the Czech Republic, for which growth is estimated to slow to a stop from an increase of 1.7% in 2011.