Investor confidence in the eurozone economy rose slightly in August after falling to its weakest level in more than two years in July. This follows from a survey, the results of which were published by Sentix. However, according to the head of Sentix, it remains very likely that the Eurozone economy will enter a recession.
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The confidence index increased to minus 25.2 points in August from minus 26.4 points in July. “The economic situation in the eurozone remains difficult,” said Sentix CEO Manfred Hübner. “A recession in the eurozone is still very likely,” he added. He pointed to weak consumer confidence, high inflation and expensive energy.
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Eurostat, the European statistics office, said in late July that quarter-on-quarter growth in the eurozone economy accelerated to 0.7 percent in the second quarter from 0.5 percent in the first quarter. However, the year-on-year growth rate slowed to four percent from the previous 5.4 percent.
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Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its forecast for this year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in countries using the euro to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent forecast in April. He cut the growth estimate for next year by almost half to 1.2 percent.
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