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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April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.