[originaltext]W: Mr. Green, what do you think of the economic forecasts for nex

W: Mr. Green, what do you think of the economic forecasts for next year? For example, what will happen to housing costs?
M: Well, there’s good news for buyers. Prices won’t increase. In fact, they’ll fall slightly. There are different reasons for this. One is that it won’t be so easy to borrow money. A second reason is that there are still a lot of empty new houses on the market.
W: I see. And what about food prices? Will they fall too?
M: I’m afraid not. You see, inflation will increase, so consumer prices will rise too. I think we can expect a 3% rise in prices.
W: Some economists say that unemployment will rise. Are you one of these people?
M: No, I’m not. I think it’ll decrease. Trade with other countries has improved dramatically over the past year. And the increase in demand for goods means that there will be more jobs.
W: Well, if unemployment falls, can we expect wages to fall too?
M: No, no. The average wage will increase. Not very much, I’m afraid, but there will be a slight increase.
W: One financial question, Mr. Green. What will happen to petrol prices? Will they increase or decrease next year?
M: That’s a very difficult question to answer because we don’t know what’ll happen in the oil producing countries. I have a feeling that prices will go down. However, I could be wrong!
W: Mr. Green, thank you very much for your time.
M: My pleasure.