Economics

ECB’s Lane Warns of Slow Recovery Amid Virus Resurgence

  • Chief economist urges more patience in assessing rebound
  • Size of pandemic purchases guided by inflation, Lane says
Philip LanePhotographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
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European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane cautioned against reading too much into recent economic data and warned that a global resurgence of coronavirus cases will weigh on consumers and businesses for some time.

It would be “unwise” to draw strong conclusions from the euro area’s less-bad-than-expected second-quarter performance, which should be jointly assessed with the three months through September, Lane said in a blog post published on the ECB’s website. He also said a rise in coronavirus infections in some European regions as well as globally is dampening consumer spending and business investment.