Danish central bank raises 2024 GDP forecast on Novo Nordisk, gas field restart (updated)

Bluenord ASA

20/03/2024 09:45

(Recasts to lead on reasons for increase, adds quotes in
paragraph 4, core inflation numbers in paragraph 8)
       COPENHAGEN, March 20 (Reuters) - The Danish central bank
on Wednesday almost doubled its forecast for economic growth
this year due to strong production by drug maker Novo Nordisk
 NOVOb.CO  and the restart of natural gas production in the
North Sea.
    The central bank expects GDP to increase by 2.4% this year
and 1.4% next year, up from a previous forecast of 1.3% for both
years.
    The higher growth projection was partly due to the increase
in production abroad by Danish pharmaceutical companies and the
restart this month of Denmark's Tyra gas field, which was shut
for redevelopment in 2019, the central bank said.
    "Without these two factors, we estimate that the Danish
economy will grow at a more subdued rate of 0.8% this year,"
Governor Christian Kettel Thomsen said in a statement. 
    Novo Nordisk makes in-demand weight loss and diabetes drugs
under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic and the bank said its
production abroad is included in Denmark's GDP even though many
of the jobs are located outside the country. 
    The pharmaceutical giant's market valuation recently
surpassed both Tesla and Visa, making it the world's 12th most
valuable company.
    Core inflation, which does not include the prices of energy
and non-processed food, is expected to be 2.3% in 2024, 2.8% in
2025 and 2.0% in 2026, the central bank said.

 (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Jacob
Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen and Miral Fahmy)
 ((Louisebreusch.rasmussen@tr.com; +45 21 27 97 79;))