Date: 2011
Type: Technical Report
Economic outlook for the Euro area in 2011 and 2012
MARCELLINO, Massimiliano (editor/s)
Technical Report, EFN Report, Spring 2011
MARCELLINO, Massimiliano (editor/s), MARCELLINO, Massimiliano, Economic outlook for the Euro area in 2011 and 2012, EFN Report, Spring 2011 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/26704
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
• Our baseline scenario for the world economy in 2011 and 2012 is a continuation of the upswing, because growth dynamics continue to be high in emerging economies, monetary policy will in general continue to be expansive, and the factors that dampen the recovery in many advanced economies are slowly declining. • There are two main downward risks for this prospect: first, low interest rates and high growth might drive commodity prices to disruptive levels. Second, waning confidence in financial markets might enhance volatility and enforce further extensive measures of consolidation in advanced economies. • For the euro area the growth perspectives are less bright. We expect GDP to grow by around 1.9% in 2011 and 1.7% in 2012, not enough to bring the unemployment rate back below 10%.This forecast assumes that the crisis of confidence in public finance in the euro area can be contained. In this case, the modest recovery will continue, this year mainly driven by strong external demand. Fixed capital formation, driven by low real interest rates, will become the main engine of growth in the second half of 2011 and in 2012. • Due to the higher external demand, industrial production remained quite strong during 2010 and forecasts have been revised upwards. We expect industrial production to grow at 5.5% during 2011 and at 3,5% in 2012, nearly recovering pre-crisis levels. • While core inflation remains at historically low values, energy and food prices will probably keep inflation in the euro area above the ECB target throughout this year: we forecast a 2.4% average inflation rate in 2011. Given this scenario, increases in the ECB policy rate in 2011 are quite probable, starting in April, but overall the reduction in the expansive stance of monetary policy will be slow. We expect inflation to drop to 1.4% in 2012, due to the ECB policy and easing of pressures in commodity markets.
Additional information:
The European Forecasting Network (EFN) is a research group of European institutions, founded in 2001 under the auspices of the European Commission.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/26704
External link: http://efn.eui.eu
Series/Number: EFN Report; Spring 2011