FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Top officials at the European Central Bank at their last meeting held on to their hopes for a return to stronger economic growth in the second half of the year even as they underlined their readiness to deploy more stimulus if needed.
The written account released Thursday of the April 10 meeting showed that the bank’s 25-member governing council felt that data “remained consistent” with a second-half upswing.
But they acknowledged there was “somewhat less confidence” and that the “range of other possible outcomes had widened.”
The 19-country eurozone economy entered a soft patch at the end of last year but showed somewhat stronger growth of 0.4 percent in the first quarter from the quarter before. The U.S.-China trade dispute and slowing global trade have held back economic output.
