LUXEMBOURG (AFX) - The euro zone's GDP will continue to grow at close to its "potential output", EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes said.
He told a press conference after the monthly euro group meeting: "The rate of growth (in the euro zone) will continue to be close to potential output."
The ECB has put this output potential at 2.0-2.5 pct.
Solbes said this will be achieved even though the US economy is slowing.
"The latest US data points to a loss of momentum," he said. President of the euro group Didier Reynders said that in their discussions last night the euro group ministers recognised that Europe faces external shocks from larger than anticipated slowdowns in the US and Japan, as well as from higher oil prices.
Reynders added it is inaccurate still to talk of a slowdown in the US. "It is a hard landing," he said.