EUROPE: THE STRONG GROW WEAK

Despite the European Central Bank (ECB) dumping cheap money into the region’s economy last September when it sent interest rates deeper into negative territory – to -0.5 percent from -0.4 – and revived its €2.6 trillion bond-buying program, it’s not working.
Germany, Europe’s largest and strongest economy, is expected to grow just 0.5 percent for the year, compared to 1.5 percent in 2018. While the final numbers will be released tomorrow, 2019 economic performance is forecast to be the worst in six years.
Overall, the eurozone’s economy is expected to slow in 2020 for the third consecutive year, according to a Financial Times poll of 34 economists who project growth to a high of 1.5 percent growth to zero. The ECB forecasts 2020’s growth of just 1.1 percent. The region will experience the slowest economic expansion in seven years.