Economic growth in the eurozone will be lower than previously expected, hovering around the 1-per-cent mark in both 2014 and 2015, the European Commission said Tuesday in its latest economic forecasts, dpa reported. The European Union's executive had previously expected the eurozone economy to grow by 1.2 per cent this year and by 1.7 per cent in 2015, but revised those estimates down to 0.8 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively. Its largest economies are falling behind: Germany, France and Italy all had their growth forecasts revised downward. Economic powerhouse Germany is now expected to see growth of only 1.1 per cent next year, while France and Italy are forecast to deliver growth levels of 0.7 and 0.6 per cent respectively. The only major EU economy delivering higher-than-expected growth would be Britain, which is not a member of the eurozone. Eurozone unemployment, meanwhile, is expected to fall only slowly, reaching 10.8 per cent in 2016. Eurozone inflation will need until then to crawl back up to 1.6 per cent, the commission said - back within reach of the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of just below 2 per cent.
