At the present time, overall economic environment cannot be assessed. Within just a short period of time, the U.S. subprime mortgage and banking crisis developed into a global financial and economic crisis. The dynamics of this development, coupled with the complexity and interdependencies of the global financial and real markets, is without precedent. The resulting uncertainties reflect the transitory nature of all the economic forecasts made during the past year and the grotesque miscalculations.
These special circumstances make it impossible for us to give any quantitative forecasts. Likewise, qualitative statements concerning trends are – in view of the strong dynamics and limited soundness of such estimates – at the present time not compatible with the planning horizon provided for in this management report.
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