Former Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus, Panicos Demetriades, was interviewed by Sputnik in relation to growing uncertainty in the Eurozone.
This was first published on 10 November 2018. Read and listen to the full interview, here.
‘Growing Uncertainty Has Been Hitting the Eurozone’ – Professor
The European Commission has stated that economic growth in the Eurozone is expected to slow down in the coming years. According to a press release, the region’s GDP has been growing at a pace of 2.1% after hitting a 10-year peak in 2017. The commission noted a high level of uncertainty surrounding the forecast and interconnected downside risks.
Sputnik has discussed this with Panicos Demetriades, Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Leicester, Former Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and former member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
Sputnik: The European Central Bank has said that growth was stabilizing at a more sustainable pace, however, experts fear that worse is yet to come. What is your take on the matter?
Panicos Demetriades: All these exogenous factors have all been pushing in the same direction. It is the trade tensions with Trump and China; they are sort of fighting over that and the growing uncertainty that is actually hitting the Eurozone. All the uncertainty around Brexit hasn’t been resolved yet but we now have Italy becoming another source of friction within the euro area and greater uncertainty. Moreover, we also have these oil prices which are exerting a dampening effect. So, growth is going to be certainly slower this year and next.