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While the economy is expected to slow down after a robust 4.6% in 2015, the forecast GDP growth rates of 2.5% in 2016 and 2.7% in 2017 are still solid.

Hungary´s economic growth is expected to rebound in 2017, after a slowdown in 2016, but the high level of external debt remains a major weakness.

Despite further growth, Poland is susceptible to a potential end of the eurozone recovery. Adverse economic policies could dampen investor sentiment.

The economic contraction continues in 2016, as investments and private consumption contract further. Only in 2017 a very modest rebound is expected.

Growth is expected to remain above 3% but the economy remains vulnerable to an eurozone downturn and adverse developments in the automotive sector.

Political risks have sharply increased, which could result in economic repercussions. Higher credit risks in the corporate sector are a major issue.

Looking at Russia, Atradius finds that oil price hardly matters for country risk.

The sector benefits from a robust performance of the Czech economy, but producers dependent on energy/mining and power engineering face difficulties.

The rebound that started in 2014 continues in 2016, but overcapacity still remains a real concern for the French machinery industry in the long-term.

The general outlook remains positive, and margins are relatively high, especially in niche segments. However,competition from China is increasing.

Competition remains strong in the domestic market, especially among small and medium-sized machinery companies dependent on construction businesses.

Key success factors for Danish machinery businesses is their ability to streamline costsand continued investment in product development/new technology.

The Turkish machinery sector faces some troubles, with sales under pressure since 2015. Political uncertainty leading to less capital expenditure.

Demand for Belgian machines and engineering businesses is still affected by the difficulties some major buyer industries are facing (e.g. construction).

The machinery sector mainly suffers from a massive decrease in public and private investments, especially in the construction and oil/gas sectors.

Payment behaviour has been good over the last two years and the number of payment delays, defaults and insolvencies is expected to remain low in 2016.

The Swedish machinery industry has shown several years of positive development. Machinery production is expected to grow 2.3% in 2016 and 0.9% in 2017.

US machinery businesses related to the oil/gas or the mining segments are affected by lower capital spending on purchasing machinery and equipment.

The French chemicals sector continues to grow in 2016, but high labour costs and strict regualtions remain a burden and global competition is strong.

Lower GDP growth of 2.5% in 2016 and government budget hit by lower oil price. Public spending is curbed in order to trim the high budget deficit.