© . FILE PHOTO: A render shows the financial and business district of La Defense in Puteaux near Paris, France, Feb. 7, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes FRANKFURT () – The eurozone economy is facing slower economic growth and higher inflation due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is driving costs up, disrupting trade and hurting confidence, a poll of economists at the European Central Bank found Friday. Economists surveyed in the ECB’s Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) estimate inflation this year at 6%, or twice as high as forecast two months ago, and saw that it would be just above the 2% target for the longer term. ECB stayed. As for the short-term outlook, respondents believed that high inflation was primarily driven by ‘cost-increasing’ rather than ‘demand-increasing’ factors, and that the conflict in Ukraine reduced price pressures. had begun to decline, rekindled and strengthened, showing signs of spikes,” the ECB said in a press release. Growth slowed to 2.9% this year, from 4.2% in the previous SPF, and the ECB said “almost all” respondents attributed their downward revisions to the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Apart from higher energy and food commodity prices, disruptions in some sectors and the sanctions imposed, they noted that the situation had led to a decline in business and consumer confidence and a loss of purchasing power for households,” the ECB added. 2022 2023 2024 Longer term HICP (%) 6.0 2.4 1.9 2.1 GDP GROWTH (%) 2.9 2.3 1.8 1.4
