It is an uncomfortable truth for the Eurozone: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine will negatively affect the Eurozone economy and has already significantly increased uncertainty.”
This is the opinion of the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, who spoke at the press conference organized at the headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany.
After expressing full support to the Ukrainian people, because “the Russian invasion is a watershed for Europe”, Christine Lagarde ‘s speech centered on economic and financial problems:
“The Russia-Ukraine war will have a material impact on economic activity and inflation, through rising energy and commodity prices, disruption of international trade and weaker confidence.”
“The extent and severity of these effects will depend on how the conflict evolves, the impact of current sanctions and any further measures”,
The ECB has revised its inflation forecast for this year from 3.2% to 5.1%, the highest level since the creation of the single European currency.
Furthermore, the GDP growth forecast for 2022 is lowered from 4.2% to 3.7% .