- According to the European Central Bank (ECB), the economy in the euro area is currently at a turning point – and will grow again from now on.
- Sustainable support from states and monetary policy remains necessary, however.
- It will therefore take a while before the pre-crisis level is reached again.
Frankfurt / Main. According to the European Central Bank (ECB), the economy in the euro area is noticeably recovering from the setbacks of the Corona crisis. “I think we are now at a turning point in May and June,” said the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB), Philip R. Lane, in an interview published on Monday with the French daily “Le Monde”. “From now on the economy will grow rapidly, but starting from a subdued level.”
State support remains necessary
It will take a while before the pre-crisis level is reached again: “Even with fairly rapid growth for the rest of this year, the euro area would only return to GDP levels of 2019 around this time next year. “Everyone needs to remember” that economic recovery is not going to be a super-fast process, “affirmed Lane. Sustained support from states and monetary policy remains necessary.
In the fight against the economic consequences of the corona pandemic, the ECB has launched a particularly flexible program for the purchase of government bonds and corporate securities. The “Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program” (PEPP), with a volume of EUR 1.85 trillion, will run according to the current planning of the central bank until at least the end of March 2022. The ECB Council will evaluate the measures at its next meeting on June 10th. “And we can increase or decrease our purchases as it takes to keep financing terms favorable,” Lane said.
