Eurozone sentiment up ahead of ECB move
EXPECTED STIMULUS BOOSTS CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX
Economic sentiment in the euro area rose for a second month in February as strong growth in Germany and the European Central Bank’s quantitative-easing program outweighed concern about the future of Greece.
An index of executive and consumer confidence climbed to 102.1 from a revised 101.4 the previous month, the European Commission in Brussels said yesterday. That’s the highest since July. Economists had forecast an increase to 102, according to the median of 26 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
A standoff between the Greek government and its creditors over the terms of the nation’s bailout threatened to derail optimism as the ECB prepared to inject €1.1 trillion (Dh4.5 trillion, $1.3 trillion) to underpin growth and fend off deflation. The central bank will issue new economic forecasts on March 5.
“The ECB’s quantitativeeasing programme adds to tentative signs of a recovery, helped by falling oil prices and a weaker euro,” said Anatoli Annenkov, senior economist at Societe Generale SA in London.
Resilience
“The Greek question hasn’t gone away completely, but the fact that the market has held up shows there’s some resilience in the European economy.”
“There has been a stabilisation in confidence across the board,” said Natascha Gewaltig, director of European economics at Action Economics UK Ltd. in London. “The outlook has improved, particularly as a result of stronger-than-expected growth in Germany and an uptick in the periphery.”
The German economy, which flirted with recession last year, grew 0.7 per cent in the fourth quarter, driven by strong domestic demand and rising exports.