Central Banks
ECB’s Economic Hopes at Risk as Consumers Put Spending on Ice
- Household expenditure isn’t rising as quickly as envisaged
- Confidence is still lingering below pre-pandemic levels
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Euro-zone consumers aren’t rushing to open their wallets — prompting some to ask whether the economic recovery they were supposed to spearhead will ever arrive.
Growth in the 20-nation bloc, having outperformed in the first half of the year, is stumbling. Manufacturing remains in the doldrums, households are failing to take up the slack and sentiment is languishing below pre-pandemic levels.