Commissioner for Economic and Financial affairs Pierre Moscovici has admitted that the block is now in a rather moderate growth phase: “This is perhaps the most important feature of our forecasts for this quarter: this lack of rebound marks a change from our previous forecasts. This reflects the shocks suffered by the euro area and we know that the impact of these shocks will take time to dissipate, so we will enter a new, more moderate growth regime.”
The European Commission expects the euro area to grow by 1.1% this year – representing a slight reduction compared to its summer and spring forecasts.
The IMF is slightly more optimistic, envisaging growth of 1.2% this year. According to the IMF, this is mostly due to anaemic growth in Germany, the Eurozone’s largest economy.