ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said “high frequency data, most recent data that the ECB is receiving shows that drop in Q2 likely to be better than expected.” The central bank had expected -13% contraction in Q2’s GDP. But he now sees contraction “slightly better”. He also hoped that “European governments response is proportionate to the challenge.”
Also from ECB, Eurozone current account surplus narrowed to EUR 8B in May, down from April’s EUR 14B. That’s also much smaller than expectation of EUR 15.2B. In the 12-month period to May 2020, current account recorded a surplus of EUR 2.64B, 2.2% of Eurozone GDP. That’s notably lower than surplus of EUR 318B (2.7% of Eurozone GDP) in the 12 months to May 2019.
