"The upside for domestic demand in the Eurozone is likely to remain constrained for some time to come by restrictive fiscal policy in many countries"
- IHS Global Insight Chief UK and European Economist Howard Archer
The 17-nation economy posted a trade surplus in February, however, the positive balance was helped by lower demand for imports rather than export growth, the European Union statistics office Eurostat said Monday. Region's trade surplus, unadjusted for seasonal swings, stood at 10.4 billion euros in February, beating analysts' expectations, which called for a 3.0 billion surplus. The statistics office also revised January's figure to a deeper deficit of 4.7 billion euros, down from a previous 3.9 billion. The amount of goods imported to the Eurozone decreased by 7% from a year ago, while on a monthly basis it fell 2.1%. Meantime, shipments to the region rose 0.1% from a month earlier.
"The upside for domestic demand in the Eurozone is likely to remain constrained for some time to come by restrictive fiscal policy in many countries, still tight credit conditions, very high and rising unemployment, and limited consumer purchasing power," IHS Global Insight Chief UK and European Economist Howard Archer said.
"The Eurozone economic confidence recovery has stalled, renewed financial-market tensions are, and will be, a drag," Schulz said. "The delayed recovery means that a rate hike is unlikely before the second quarter of 2014."
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