A man wearing a face mask is seen in a supermarket in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)
The European Union acknowledged there were risks associated with record-high debt and deficit levels tied to increased government spending aimed at staving off the worst impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which began having a major economic impact in Europe in February 2020. But those risks were more than balanced out by positive factors such as the increasingly swift, continent-wide coronavirus vaccine rollout and the economic boost coming from the European Union's economic recovery fund.
ROME, May 13 -- The European Commission on Wednesday predicted an aggressive rebound for the economies of the 27-nation bloc, though analysts said there were still many potential pitfalls that could sidetrack the recovery.
The Commission updated its economic forecast model for member states to 4.2 percent this year, up from 3.7 percent in its previous forecast, from February. It predicted further 4.4-percent growth in 2022, also stronger than the 3.9-percent estimate in the forecast three months ago.
If the estimates prove accurate, it means Europe's economies will have recovered from the 6.4-percent contraction in 2020 at some point next year.
"Recovery is no longer a mirage. It is underway," Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economy and a former Italian prime minister, said when the forecast was unveiled.
"After a weak start to the year, we now project strong growth in both 2021 and 2022. Today, for the first time since the pandemic hit, we see some optimism prevailing over uncertainty," he said.
In its forecast, the European Union did acknowledge there were risks associated with record-high debt and deficit levels tied to increased government spending aimed at staving off the worst impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which began having a major economic impact in Europe in February 2020.
But those risks were more than balanced out by positive factors such as the increasingly swift, continent-wide coronavirus vaccine rollout and the economic boost coming from the European Union's economic recovery fund.
