FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank cut its economic growth expectations for the euro zone once more on Thursday and raised its projection for inflation this year, even as it predicted price growth back at target in 2026.
Having tamed once-runaway prices, the ECB has been steadily cutting interest rates for most of the past year and lowered its deposit rate for the sixth time on Thursday, with more easing still likely.
The euro zone’s central bank now expects gross domestic product (GDP) in the currency bloc to expand by 0.9% this year, below the 1.1% predicted three months ago. Growth will then accelerate to 1.2% in 2026.
Inflation is now seen at 2.3% this year, above the 2.1% predicted in December, before falling to 1.9% in 2026.
The following are the ECB’s projections for inflation and economic growth. Previous projections from December are in brackets.
2025 2026 2027
GDP Growth: 0.9 (1.1%) 1.2 (1.4%) 1.3% (1.3%)
Inflation: 2.3 (2.1%) 1.9 (1.9%) 2.0% (2.1%)
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Catherine Evans)
