国际英语资讯:EU sees broad-based economy recovery, but challenges remain_时事

国际英语资讯:EU sees broad-based economy recovery, but challenges remain

World trade has weakened considerably since mid-2017, Draghi said, while the correlation with euro area output has more or less broken down. "Growth has accelerated even as world trade has fallen back."

UNCERTAINTIES AND CHALLENGES REMAIN

In spite of the encouraging positive signs of growth, uncertainty surrounding the EU economic outlook remains elevated.

"The risks surrounding the eurozone growth outlook, while moving to a more balanced configuration, are still tilted to the downside and relate predominantly to global factors," the ECB head said in April.

External risks are linked, for instance, to future U.S. economic and trade policy and broader geopolitical tensions.

Moreover, in order to keep EU economic growth strong, balanced and sustainable, challenges within Europe itself should be addressed and further structural reforms implemented even more ambitiously.

Firstly, the ECB is expected to withdraw money stimulus, on which the growth of 19 member states in the euro area has been dramatically dependent for several years. Investors at financial markets anticipate clearer signals unveiled by the ECB in the second half of this year, as the underlying inflation rate continues to rebound, however slowly.

A less accommodating monetary policy could lead to discomfort in the euro area, especially in periphery countries like Greece, on account of less favorable lending conditions which will make economic structural adjustments more difficult.