ECB President Christine Lagarde said in a European Parliament committee hearing, “the outlook for the economy is indeed brightening as the pandemic situation improves, the vaccination campaigns progress, and confidence begins to rise.”
“We expect economic activity to improve strongly in the second half of 2021, supported by a robust rebound in consumer spending and solid business investment,” she added. “The risks surrounding the growth outlook have become broadly balanced.” “Euro area annual inflation has picked up over recent months, largely owing to temporary factors, including strong increases in energy price inflation.”
Lagarde also said, “international spill-overs from US inflation can be amplified if people in the euro area shape their inflation expectations also on the basis of developments in the United States.” Though, “overall, however, the effects on euro area HICP inflation are expected to be moderate.”
