"Economic weakness in the euro zone is expected to extend into next year"
- ECB President Mario Draghi
Investor confidence about the Eurozone economic outlook improved for the fourth consecutive month in December, boosted by the ECB's pledge to save the common currency, the Sentix research institute said Monday. A gauge, which measures sentiment in the euro-area economy, improved to -16.8, up from -18.8 in November, however, still remains below the 0 threshold, which separates optimism from pessimism. Despite the fact, that the data remains in the negative territory since July 2011, moderate increase is a good sign for the Euro. In the meanwhile, the ECB lowered its growth forecast for the region, saying the growth is about to range somewhere between -0.9% and +0.3% in 2013, adding to concerns that the rapid recovery in the Eurozone economy is unlikely to be seen in the next several years.
"Economic weakness in the euro zone is expected to extend into next year," Draghi said. "A gradual recovery should start later in 2013.By the second part of the next year, we should see the beginning of a recovery."
"I expect solid growth for the euro area next year and no change in interest rates," said Ulrich Kater, chief economist at DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale in Frankfurt.