BRUSSELS, November 4 (RIA Novosti) — The European Commission has again lowered its forecast for inflation in the eurozone, it is now expected at 0.5 percent in 2014, 0.8 percent in 2015 and 1.5 percent in 2016, says the commission's economic forecast released Tuesday.
In the previous spring forecast of May 5, the European Commission suggested that the inflation in the euro area in 2014 would be at 0.8 percent, and in 2015 — at 1.2 percent. The forecast for 2016 was made for the first time.
"To the extent that the strengthening of the economic recovery has been postponed, inflation has continued to decline… The forecast for inflation in the EU has been trimmed for this year and next," the EC document stated.
"The disinflationary trend across EU Member States has continued this year, driven by lower commodity prices, especially for energy and food, the weaker-than-expected economic environment, and the euro’s earlier appreciation," the forecast explained.
The EC Autumn forecast also worsened estimates of the eurozone’s real GDP growth for 2014 and 2015 within 0.6 percentage points.
