Despite double-digit inflation and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Eurozone appears to be avoiding recession as GDP grew by 0.1% in the last quarter (compared to expectations for a 0.1% decline).
A few months ago, economists were predicting a deep recession and energy shortages. However, a less cold winter, falling gas prices and generous government subsidies all helped to avoid this scenario, and the region grew by 3.5% in each quarter of 2022 and for the year as a whole.
While production in Germany and Italy shrank, France and Spain experienced growth. Stronger-than-expected data also came from Ireland on Monday.
“The Irish economy expanded by 3.5% thanks to the presence of multinational companies, which contributed 0.1 percentage point to the Eurozone figures and tipped the balance so that the bloc as a whole expanded” said Jamie Rush, chief European economist at Bloomberg Economics.
According to Bert Colijn, chief economist of ING bank, the economy of the region “incredible resilience” testified once morest the energy crisis caused by the Ukrainian-Russian war.
“The worst scenarios for this winter have been avoided, but the economy is still very slow” – Colin said.
While Lagarde and her lackeys can celebrate for now, the bloc is far from over, as economists continue to predict that output will fall in the first quarter.
The euro weakened at the start of the EU session, but has since recovered most of the decline. The economy is holding up better than expected, which means the ECB can continue to focus on tackling high and persistent inflation.
Published on the BitcoinBázis page.
