RIGA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Latvia saw its gross domestic product (GDP) contract by 4.6 in the third quarter according to revised data, down from an earlier estimate of a 4.2 percent fall and growth of 0.1 pct in the second quarter, the statistics office said on Tuesday.
Latvia's economy abruptly stalled and fell in the third quarter after years of double digit growth, forcing the government to rescue the country's second largest bank and to seek billions of euros of support from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.
"The decrease in GDP was due to the drop in the following activities: trade by 8.6 percent, transport and communications by 0.9 percent, manufacturing by 8.9 percent and construction by 7.4 percent," the statistics office said in a statement.
The office added that for the first nine months of 2009 GDP fell 0.6 percent, reinforcing the expectation that the country's growth will be negative for the whole year of 2008.
With a return to growth not expected in the short term, the officials said on Tuesday the country is seeking to pass 1 billion lats ($1.82 billion) worth of budget cuts to its 2009 budget as part of its agreement to win a vital rescue loan from the IMF and the European Commission. (Reporting by David Mardiste; editing by Stephen Nisbet)