Finnish President warns of imminent recession in Europe

Finnish President Sauli Niiniste has warned of an imminent economic recession in Europe. In addition, he expressed concern about the escalation of the situation in Ukraine.

“I have to say that concerns about the escalation in Ukraine are growing. This risk is still present all the time and must be taken into account,” Niiniste said in an interview with the newspaper. Maaseudun Tulevaisuus.

He also recalled the economic difficulties facing Europe. Niiniste added that the people of Finland and Europe in general should be prepared for the fact that the economic situation will not improve every year, which, according to him, people already take for granted.

Formerly Eurostat informedthat inflation in the euro area in July reached 8.9% year on year. The indicator again updated the record, the previous one was recorded in June. A month earlier, inflation was 8.6%.

Despite the acceleration of consumer prices, EU GDP has not yet gone into negative territory. The European economy is growing for the second quarter in a row. In the first three months of 2022, the growth in annual terms was 0.5%, and in the II quarter – 0.7% (relative to the previous quarter), follows from the report of the EU statistics office, published on July 29. Experts expect that the situation for the European economy will develop according to an unfavorable scenario.

Earlier, on July 21, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised key bet at 50 bp. to 0.5%, which interrupted the 11-year period of zero and negative rates.