BRUSSELS (MktNews) - While the renewed financial crisis in Japan is a concern to the EU, it shouldn't adversely affect eurozone or EU-15 growth, as there is a series of offsetting compensatory factors, an Commission official said Wednesday.
Gerassimos Thomas, Commission spokesman for economic and monetary affairs, acknowledged that the situation in Japan has deteriorated recently, alongside the U.S. slowdown, but pointed to robust internal demand as an offsetting factor.
"Obviously, developments in Japan are much less promising than they were at the end of last year, and with the U.S. slowdown this adds up to uncertainty which will influence the preparation for our Spring forecast," he told Market News International, referring to the Commission's release of economic forecasts on April 25.
"Nevertheless there are compensating factors in the EU," he said, pointing to strong consumer confidence, a buoyant service sector and low long-term interest rates, which should add to favorable investment growth.
He repeated that the Spring GDP forecasts will almost certainly be around 3% for both the EMU-12 and the EU-15 economies this year.
"At this stage we think the implications (of the Japanese and U.S. slowdowns) are being taken into account," Thomas said.