Investing.com - Growth in the euro area economy slowed slightly in the first quarter, according to a preliminary estimate released on Wednesday, further dampening expectations that the European Central Bank will soon start scaling back stimulus.
Eurostat said the euro area economy grew by an annualized 2.5% in the three months to March. That was down from 2.7% in the fourth quarter and in line with estimates.
The economy expanded by 0.4% in the first quarter.
Speaking after the bank’s latest policy meeting last Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi acknowledged that the pace of the euro area recovery had moderated since the start of the year, but signaled no change in monetary policy.
Draghi said there had been “a loss of momentum that is pretty broad based across countries and all sectors”.
But he added that his overall assessment was one of “caution tempered by an unchanged confidence” that inflation is moving towards the ECB’s target of just below 2%.
Many analysts now believe that the ECB may wait until July - a month later than previously expected - to give markets updated forward guidance on its plans to begin winding up its stimulus program.
At the same time, a separate report showed that the euro zone unemployment rate remained steady at 8.5% in March.