The outlook for the world economy remains positive; this mainly relates to the sustained growth of the US economy, but also to the apparent strengthening of the recoveries in South-East Asia and Japan. Most recent data releases for the euro area suggest an acceleration of real GDP growth rates in the second half of this year.
This is indicated by confidence and survey data, as well as by production data for the industrial sector extending into the third quarter of the year. Therefore, the prospects for a continued improvement in output growth remain good.