Friday

29th Mar 2024

OECD raises eurozone growth forecasts

The eurozone is likely to grow by 2.7 percent this year, the OECD said on Tuesday (5 September) upgrading its growth forecasts for the 12-nation zone.

In its interim assessment, the Paris-based organisation raised its 2006 GDP growth forecast for the eurozone to 2.7 percent, up from 2.2 percent.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Eurozone growth was partly due to transitory factors such as the World Cup (Photo: EUobserver)

According to the organisation, several "transitory factors" helped the recovery including the World Cup in Germany, spending in the German construction sector and the fall in unemployment rates across the eurozone.

Within the eurozone, the forecast for Germany has been raised to 2.2 percent from 1.8 percent and for France to 2.4 percent from 2.1 percent.

The OECD also indicated that the data for the first half of 2006 point to "some gradual rebalancing" of economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic but that this is only likely to be temporary.

"Following this catch up, growth is likely to slow somewhat in Europe whilst the US and Japanese expansions regain some momentum," OECD chief economist Jean-Philippe Cotis said.

'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told

Italian central banker Piero Cipollone in his first monetary policy speech since joining the ECB's board in November, said that the bank should be ready to "swiftly dial back our restrictive monetary policy stance."

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us