Eurozone economy projected to grow 1.1 pc in 2014

Brussels, Nov 6 (IANS/EFE) The Eurozone economy's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 1.1 percent in 2014 and 1.7 percent in 2015, with imbalances diminishing as unemployment remains at unacceptable levels, the European Commission said in a report released Tuesday.

"There are increasingly more signs that the European economy has reached the inflection point," European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said.

The Eurozone economy is projected to end 2013 with a contraction of 0.40 percent in the GDP, Rehn said.

The European Union as a whole should end 2013 with GDP remaining unchanged and its 28 members posting growth of 1.4 percent in 2014 and 1.9 percent in 2015.

"The fiscal consolidation and structural reforms adopted in Europe have created the base for recovery," Rehn said.

The moderate optimism surrounding the macroeconomic forecast, however, is not sufficient "to claim victory", Rehn said.

The GDP forecast released Tuesday by the European Commission was slightly less positive than the one made in May, when economists estimated that the Eurozone economy would grow 1.2 percent next year.

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone is expected to be 12.2 percent in 2013 and 2014, with the jobless rate falling to 11.8 percent in 2015, while the unemployment rate for the European Union as a whole is projected to be 11.1 percent this year and to fall slightly to 11 percent in 2014 and 10.7 percent in 2015.

--IANS/EFE

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