In addition, with consumer confidence remaining at an all-time high and unemployment continuing to decline, the recent strength of private consumption should be sustained. Looking at the world economy, the upturn in growth has become more broadly based, pertaining to both industrial and emerging economies, and most forecasts indicate that current growth differentials between economic areas are in the course of narrowing.
It’s been six months since you joined the ECB as its Chief Economist, and a big role change going from the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland to now looking at the eurozone as a whole.