BRUSSELS, Sept. 13, 2024 – Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe provided an update following the Eurogroup meeting on Friday, emphasizing discussions centered on the euro area’s economic outlook and the ongoing work related to budget planning for the coming fiscal period.
“Because of all of the work that finance ministers are doing at the moment, it was a particularly helpful time to get the latest assessment from our institutions and particularly, from the European Central Bank,” Donohoe said.
He highlighted that while the eurozone economy continues to grow, it faces challenges. “We can see that it is still growing overall and that we have avoided the risk of a real recession that many warned us of,” Donohoe stated. However, he acknowledged the growth remains uneven across the region and slower than desired.
A significant topic of discussion was inflation, which Donohoe noted has seen considerable improvement. “We have been tracking inflation and our efforts are now bearing fruit. Inflation has indeed come down a lot,” he remarked, expressing optimism that this would positively affect households and businesses.
Employment within the euro area also reached historic highs. “We have record levels of employment in the euro area, which is indeed a historic achievement,” he added, attributing this success to strong economic policies amid recent global shocks.
As finance ministers enter the budget season, the focus shifts to balancing public finances. Donohoe stressed the importance of the new economic governance framework, which is expected to improve coordination between eurozone member states in managing their fiscal policies.
“The first step in all of this will be the submission of the medium-term fiscal-structural plans… It is really important that these plans be credible and comprehensive to ensure we deliver those twin goals of allowing our economies to grow and also ensuring that we have sustainable, safe, and healthy public finances,” he said.
The meeting also included an update from Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti on work being conducted at the G7 level.
