The European Commission on Tuesday slashed the growth forecasts for the euro area for this year and next, citing a "more pronounced" slowdown since the second half of last year, caused mainly due to weaker external demand, disruption in the automobile sector, policy uncertainty and Brexit worries. In its Spring 2019 forecast, the executive arm of the European Union trimmed the growth forecast for this year to 1.2 percent from 1.9 percent predicted in the Autumn forecast in February. Growth is expected to improve to 1.5 percent in 2020, which was smaller than the 1.7 percent expansion seen earlier. "As initial deadlines for US-China trade negotiations and Brexit have passed without resolution, various uncertainties continue to loom large," the EU said.
"Substantial downside risks to the growth outlook remain in place."
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.