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Eurozone economic sentiment improves

30/06/2003 15:25
Economic sentiment firmed up across the eurozone in June, according to a survey released on Monday.

The European Commission said its index of economic sentiment was up a touch from 98.1 in May to 98.2 in June.

Industrial confidence rose to -12 compared with the -13 recorded the previous month, while consumer confidence also got a boost from -20 to -19.

Overall, sentiment was up in Germany and Portugal, but it slipped in Finland, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The business climate indicator rose slightly from -0.68 in May to -0.61 in June, but the Commission said that the economic short-term outlook remained "uncertain".

Separately, inflation in the eurozone rose to its 2 per cent ceiling in June, official figures showed on Monday.

That compared with 1.9 per cent in May, according to Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Commission.

The European Central Bank has left the door open to a further interest rate reduction amid worries about the pace of economic recovery across the eurozone.

But last week, Ernst Welteke, the Bundesbank chief who sits on the ECB's governing council, said inflation would have to come down further in the medium term if interest rates were to be eased again.