FRANKFURT – A regular survey of professional economic forecasters conducted by the European Central Bank showed that they have downgraded their growth forecasts for the eurozone economy for both 2005 and 2006.
In its November monthly bulletin, the ECB said that in its regular quarterly “Survey of Professional Forecasters”, the experts had revised downward their growth forecast for 2005 to two per cent from 2,1 per cent previously. And the eurozone economy was expected to grow by 2,2 per cent in 2006, instead of 2,3 per cent as previously anticipated, the ECB said.The downward revision was largely connected with the anticipation of a slowdown in worldwide growth, the ECB explained.”With gross domestic product (GDP) growth seen as being driven mainly by external demand, a deceleration in world economic expansion is thought to be a major downward risk for the years ahead and explains a large part of the downward revision to the growth outlook,” the ECB wrote.”On the domestic side, favourable financing conditions are expected to support an upswing in investment.However, survey participants consider that low levels of confidence and weak demand due to a lack of improvement in the labour market are clouding the prospects for growth,” the report said.By contrast, area-wide economic growth this year was expected to come out at 1,9 per cent, slightly higher than the previous forecast of 1,8 per cent.-Nampa-AFPAnd the eurozone economy was expected to grow by 2,2 per cent in 2006, instead of 2,3 per cent as previously anticipated, the ECB said.The downward revision was largely connected with the anticipation of a slowdown in worldwide growth, the ECB explained.”With gross domestic product (GDP) growth seen as being driven mainly by external demand, a deceleration in world economic expansion is thought to be a major downward risk for the years ahead and explains a large part of the downward revision to the growth outlook,” the ECB wrote.”On the domestic side, favourable financing conditions are expected to support an upswing in investment.However, survey participants consider that low levels of confidence and weak demand due to a lack of improvement in the labour market are clouding the prospects for growth,” the report said.By contrast, area-wide economic growth this year was expected to come out at 1,9 per cent, slightly higher than the previous forecast of 1,8 per cent.-Nampa-AFP
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