Eurozone GDP growth set to pick up in 2015

Economic growth in the eurozone should speed up, significantly next year, but authorities are effectively running on empty regarding defences to any future downturns, a new report has warned.

In its latest outlook on the eurozone region, professional services giant EY (formerly Ernst & Young) has said it expects the single-currency economy to see GDP growth of 1.2% in 2015, picking up from a more modest 0.8% increase this year. It anticipates the region’s economy will rise by 1.6% per annum from 2016 to 2018, inclusive.

“The lagged effect of a weakening euro, easing fiscal austerity, lower oil prices and more certainty in the banking sector will combine to support the gradually strengthening eurozone recovery,” the report states.