Tag Archives: euro area recovery

Latest growth data indicate continuation of a strong and stable recovery. Our GDP forecasts remain unchanged.Euro area headline GDP growth was confirmed at 0.6% q-o-q in Q3.At the country level, Germany surprised to the upside, posting GDP growth of 0.8% q-o-q in Q3 and beating consensus expectations. The impressive performance was driven by exports and investment in equipment and machinery. Turning to Italy, economic activity strengthened in Q3. After a rise of 0.3% q-o-q in Q2, real GDP...

Accelerating growth in France and Italy should make the ECB more confident about its plans for policy normalisation.The current leg of the euro area recovery is about both quantitative and qualitative improvement in the economic outlook.Trend GDP growth in France and Italy has risen to 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively, on an annualised basis. Those countries are catching up with the strongest member states, more than compensating for the moderate growth slowdown we forecast in Germany and...

Flash PMI surveys indicate continuation of a “solid and broad” recovery. We expect ECB to move cautiously toward a more neutral policy stance.The euro area May PMI indices remained consistent with Mario Draghi’s assessment of the ongoing recovery as “solid and broad”. The composite flash PMI remained stable at 56.8 in May, against expectations of a small decline. This apparent stability masked further improvement in the largest member states as business confidence outperformed in the French...

We remain relatively upbeat about euro area growth, but the pressures on banks are a concern, and decisive pro-investment moves remain in abeyance Leaving aside the possible disruptions surrounding the Brexit referendum and other near-term political events, a number of fundamental factors — most notably strengthening domestic demand — mean we are cautiously optimistic about the euro area economy over the short term, with an above-consensus GDP growth forecast for this year of...