While the euro zone economy is booming now, it is expected to lose some of that momentum. And inflation is not due to reach the central bank’s target of just under 2 percent until at least 2020, according to the poll of around 80 economists.
The ECB is due to stop buying 30 billion euros’ worth of bonds each month after September. A debate is now raging over whether to end it sooner, even though inflation remains well below target and growth momentum is forecast to slow.
That risk is now long gone but inflation is still very tame, forecast to average 1.5 percent this year, unchanged from the previous poll, with a median ranging between 1.4 and 1.6 percent in each quarter through to the end of June next year.
The euro zone’s exceptional economic performance is underpinning the optimism. It is easily outstripping growth in Britain, which is grappling with the terms on which it will leave the European Union next year after its 2016 Brexit vote.
The 2018 growth outlook was once again revised up in the latest poll. That latest consensus is the best since polling began for the period in March 2016.
Full year growth was expected to average 2.3 percent this year and 1.9 percent next, compared to 2.2 percent and 1.8 percent respectively in the previous poll.
Reference: Reuters
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