2023 economy will be 'a lot better than feared': Lagarde
The economic "news has become much more positive in the last few weeks", Lagarde told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The ECB's forecast of 0.5 percent growth this year is not "brilliant" but "it is a lot better than what we had feared", Lagarde said.
- Economy
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 02:10 | 19 January 2023
- Modified Date: 04:42 | 19 January 2023
The eurozone economy will fare "a lot better" this year than initially feared, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday, as hopes grow that countries can avoid a painful recession.
The economic "news has become much more positive in the last few weeks", Lagarde told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The ECB's forecast of 0.5 percent growth this year is not "brilliant" but "it is a lot better than what we had feared", Lagarde said.
Lagarde said however that inflation in the euro area remains "way too high," despite the recent easing and four interest rate hikes in a row in the past year, making it clear the central bank must "stay the course" in the fight against inflation.
"Our determination at the ECB is to bring it back to 2% in a timely manner," she said of the inflation target, adding that the bank would take "all the measures" necessary to achieve that result.
Inflation in the euro zone has weakened slightly recently. It stood at an annual rate of 9.2% in December, just below the record high of over 10% reached in October.