BRUSSELS (MNI) – Europe is currently the part of the global economy
with the weakest performance, European Central Bank Governing Council
member Ewald Nowotny said Monday.
Speaking at a podium discussion, Nowotny, who heads the Austrian
National Bank, said: “For the time being, Europe is the world region
with the lowest economic growth. We are the weak spot of the global
economy. So therefore growth is quite an important element.”
High unemployment among young people is “the one element that gives
me the biggest concern,” he said, warning that “this might have a
long-term effect on the long-term equilibrium of growth.”
Programs to stimulate growth should therefore include job training,
in particular for youth, he said.
Nowotny noted that the European Stability Mechanism had not yet
entered into force, and said that this “tends to undermine the
credibility of the decisions that we take at summits, conferences and so
on.”
–Frankfurt bureau tel: +49-69-720-142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$$EC$,MGX$$$,M$$CR$]
