In the first quarter, GDP growth in the euro area slowed

Investing.com – According to the updated report released on Tuesday, in the first quarter of 2018, economic growth in the euro area slowed slightly. This strengthens the forecasts that the European Central Bank will not curtail the financial incentive program in the near future.

According to Eurostat’s report, in the first quarter the European economy grew by 2.5% on an annualized basis, which corresponds to a preliminary estimate of growth. In the fourth quarter of 2017, on an annualized basis, the euro zone economy grew by 2.7%.

Compared to the previous quarter, Europe’s economy grew by 0.4%.

The report released yesterday showed that as a result of the decline in sales volumes, Germany’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter.

In the first quarter of 2018, the euro zone’s largest economy grew by only 0.3%.

During his press conference after the last meeting of the European Central Bank, President Mario Draghi acknowledged that economic growth in the eurozone slowed compared to the beginning of the year. At the same time, he pointed out that the monetary policy will not change in the near future.

Draghi added that his overall assessment expresses restrained fears amidst a stable belief that inflation is approaching the ECB target just below 2%.

Many analysts believe that the ECB will wait until July (which is a month longer than previous forecasts), before making new forecasts about plans to wind down its financial incentive program.

Another report showed that in March, industrial production in the euro area, on an annualized basis, increased by 3.0%, and compared to the previous month by 0.5%, which was lower than the forecasts of analysts.