EU Still Expanding But Growth is Slowing Down

May 23, 2018 Share Print 0

Euro zone economic growth slowed much more sharply than expected this month, a business survey showed, which along with weaker inflation has intensified concerns there will be no return to the bloc’s recent boom times.

The European Central Bank will end its asset purchase program this year and hike interest rates in 2019, a Reuters poll found last month, although policymakers may be concerned to see inflation easing along with growth.

While the expansion still remained relatively strong, growth slowed to a 20-month low in the bloc’s largest economy, Germany, and the lowest in a year in a half in No. 2 economy France, according to the latest IHS Markit purchasing managers’ surveys.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.