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March 15, 2012 at 05:17 AM
Ernst & Young predicted that the euro zone will see its economy contract more than it had originally expected as countries tackle budget deficits.
Bloomberg reported late Wednesday that the company had originally forecast a contraction of 0.1% for the region in December. However, in the spring forecast for the euro zone released Wednesday, that outlook had changed. A Romania Insider article cited Mark Otty, Ernst & Young area managing partner, Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, saying in the report, “Overall GDP is now forecast to fall 0.5% as opposed to our earlier forecast of 0.1% with few countries likely to escape falling output in 2012.”
The difficulty of predicting with any certainty, given so many financial variables, resulted in the report titled “Difficult scenarios, difficult to assess.” The effects of widespread austerity programs are seen as restricting growth throughout most of the region, according to Otty, who was quoted saying, “We forecast that collectively these government cuts have dampened GDP growth by over 1% for this year and next, and recognize that they will delay economic recovery.”
