ECB publishes results of its survey of professional forecasters

  • 2018 growth seen at 2.0%; down from 2.2%
  • 2019 growth seen at 1.8%; down from 1.9%
  • 2020 growth seen at 1.6%; unchanged
  • Inflation seen averaging 1.7% in 2018, 2019, 2020; unchanged
  • Core inflation seen at 1.1% for 2018; down from 1.2%
  • Core inflation seen at 1.4% for 2019; down from 1.5%
  • Core inflation seen at 1.7% for 2020; unchanged

The negative downgrade in growth and inflation outlook basically reflects current market sentiment towards the Eurozone economy, one that is losing confidence with each economic data release. But that's still not enough to derail the ECB's plans just yet. Let's see if the trend carries over into 2019, if so then that would start raising some serious questions of the central bank as they seek to normalise policy in the summer of next year.