Eurogroup President Mario Centeno said in an interview that “it is true that there is a deceleration going on in Europe and that it may be less temporary than we think.” The slowdown surprised by both intensity and duration. And it’s related to political risks as “uncertainty grows when decisions are not taken.” Though, he remained optimistic that “forecasts point to a recovery in the second half of the year.”
Separately, Centeno expressed his concern regarding Italy’s fiscal heath in another interview. He warned that “Italy is facing some difficulties in this economic cycle”. And, “the message is relatively simple: the government has a demanding budget to execute and it needs to be executed with credibility, and we need to gather all our efforts to reverse Italy’s growth tendency.
