London, Thursday 16 December
Possible new coronavirus variants and rise in inflation could potentially slow down growth, said European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde, on Thursday.
Lagarde noted that high inflation is to remain high for the short term, a decline though is anticipated during 2022, the ECB notes.
At the same time, the ECB revised its 2022 inflation forecast on Thursday, to 3.2% from a previous estimate of 1.7% in September, while also lowering the Eurozone GDP growth expectations for 2022, to 4.2% from a previous estimate of 4.6% made again in September.
In the Press Conference followed the ECB’s December meeting, Lagarde said: "The future path of energy prices and the pace at which supply bottlenecks are resolved are risks to the recovery and to the outlook for inflation," "The upswing in inflation primarily reflects a sharp rise in prices for fuel, gas, and electricity," she noted.
She added that a possible new covid variant could become “a more persistent drag on growth”, to conclude, "the pandemic is weighing on consumer and business confidence and the spread of new virus variants is creating extra uncertainty.”
(Written and edited by: The Decision Maker)
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