After the EU revised its growth forecast for 2014 and 2015, the European Commission has said the economy recovery is ‘gaining ground’. It has been estimated that the 18 nation Eurozone is expected to grow by 1.2% this year and 1.8% next year, which is a 0.1% higher than the previous prediction made.
We are expecting to see the UK’s economy rise by 2.5% this year, from the previous forecast of 2.2%, yet the UK’s growth forecast has been left unchanged for 2015 at 2.4%. Looking at the wider 28-nation EU’s prospects, the revised forecast is up by 0.1%, to 1.5% in 2014 and 2% in 2015.
Even with the rise in forecasts, the overall result is not as great as we would like but it’s a gradual improvement happening in the Eurozone. The 1.1% growth is a good improvement from last year’s decline but it’s not enough to make any significant improvements to the serious unemployment problem in the Eurozone.
With the economy recovering gradually, the hope for the worst of the crisis maybe behind us, but the commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, has warned us that the recovery is still modest. He also commented: “To make the recovery stronger and create more jobs, we need to stay the course of economic reform.”
There is still a huge difference in the Commission’s forecasts between the performances of different countries within the EU. The Netherlands is expected to grow 1%, while it downgrades the forecast for Cyprus and Slovenia.
So overall the economy recovery is still not good but it’s certainly an improvement and gaining some traction.
