For the EU as a whole, European ministers of finance have reduced their growth expectations by 0.2 to 0.5 percent for 2017. In the economic growth forecasts presented by the Eurosystem, a Brexit was one of the downside risks to the projections.
*  *  Introduction  Ladies and gentlemen I am very pleased to welcome you to this year’s Bundesbank Lecture, which is being held at the Old Town Hall in the very heart of Berlin. The Old Town Hall was built between 1902 and 1911 as an extension of the “Red Town Hall”, which is just a stone’s throw from here.