European Commission cuts eurozone economy growth forecastNovember 4, 2014 - 16:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The economy of the 18-country strong eurozone will grow by just 0.8% this year, the European Commission has said, according to BBC News. The forecast is below the 1.2% estimate made earlier this year. The commission has also has cut its growth forecast for 2015 to 1.1% from 1.7%. EU vice president Jyrki Katainen said "the economic and employment situation is not improving fast enough". The report predicts that inflation in the eurozone will continue to be low and employment high. Continuing weakness in France and Italy would keep the brakes on recovery, it said. The EU executive said the eurozone's economy would not now reach a growth rate of 1.7% until 2016. The director general of the commission's economics department, Marco Buti, said the roots of the eurozone's troubles were in the global credit crunch of 2008. "The slowdown in Europe has occurred as the legacy of the global financial and economic crisis lingers," he said. "We see growth... coming to a stop in Germany... protracted stagnation in France and contraction in Italy." The eurozone's woes are also central to the recovery in the rest of the world. Eurozone inflation is forecast to be 0.5% this year, 0.8% in 2015 and 1.5% in 2016. While this is well below the European Central Bank's target of close to 2%, it means that deflation, considered at least as dangerous as high inflation, should be averted. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. |