Macedonia's GDP growth of 3 percent in 2011 is the fifth or sixth best in Europe, which is rather solid considering the last year developments, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told reporters on Friday.

The GDP growth is close to the Government's projection, the PM said, pointing out that it was at 5,1 percent in the first six months of 2011, but started to decline in the third, and especially in the fourth quarter due to the crisis in Europe.

The growth was mainly driven by the construction sector, Gruevski said. The Government invested a lot in this sector in order to mitigate the consequences of the crisis, which has proven to be a good policy, he added.

It also refers to tourism, which registered the highest growth. For two-three years the Government has been investing a lot in this sector, namely it has set up a Committee on Tourism, launched an international campaign and undertaken many other activities that started to bring tangible results.  

The debt crisis in Europe is still affecting Macedonia's economic development, as 90 percent of our products are being exported to European countries, Gruevski said.

He considers that the latest reports on the euro's stabilization and improving of the situation in debt-ridden EU states, which actually have been generating the crisis, give some hope for Macedonia's measures, reforms in the second half of this year to bring higher national GDP growth.