Euro area economy is improving

The Finance Ministers of the 18-member Euro group met in Brussels this evening and discussed their economic situation. Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, President of the Eurogroup said that "the economic outlook of the Euro area is improving. "Euro area real GDP growth is picking up in recent quarters, and economic activity is expected to continue recovering. The euro area has so far also shown resilience as far as the recent emerging markets economies turmoil is concerned," he noted. Other issues discussed, included the direct bank recapitalisation instrument and the economic adjustment programmes in Cyprus and Greece, he noted. On his part, Olli Rehn, EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, said the Eurostat estimate for the fourth quarter of last year - published last Friday - confirmed that the economic recovery is gradually gathering strength in Europe. "Quarterly growth reached 0.4 percent in the EU, which is slightly above our autumn forecast and 0.3 percent in the Euro area is slightly above our autumn forecast," said Rehn. "The Euro area economy is now on-track for the expected acceleration in this year and next - in 2014 and 2015 - but the recovery remains subdued, modest mainly because of the financial crisis and the economic recession continue to hold back GDP growth," he added.