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ECB Poll: Economists Confident Euro Zone Inflation Will Fall to 2%

The building of the European Central Bank (ECB) appears on the horizon during sunset in Frankfurt, Germany, December 2, 2023. REUTERS
The building of the European Central Bank (ECB) appears on the horizon during sunset in Frankfurt, Germany, December 2, 2023. REUTERS
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ECB Poll: Economists Confident Euro Zone Inflation Will Fall to 2%

The building of the European Central Bank (ECB) appears on the horizon during sunset in Frankfurt, Germany, December 2, 2023. REUTERS
The building of the European Central Bank (ECB) appears on the horizon during sunset in Frankfurt, Germany, December 2, 2023. REUTERS

Economists are sticking to their view that inflation in the euro zone will fall to 2% and stay there, a European Central Bank poll showed on Friday, in comforting news as the ECB prepares to cut interest rates.

The ECB's latest Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) put inflation at 2.4% this year and 2.0% in 2025, 2026 and in the longer term -- unchanged from the previous round of the poll three months earlier, Reuters reported.

Revisions to economic growth forecasts were minimal, with GDP seen expanding by 0.5% this year, 1.4% next year and in 2026, and 1.3% thereafter.

The ECB held interest rates at a record high on Thursday but signalled it could start cutting as soon as June, even though stubbornly high US inflation could stop the US Federal Reserve from following close behind.

The SPF's results are based on responses from 61 economists at European companies and financial institutions polled between March 18 and 21.

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Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
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Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)

The Libyan oil export port of Hariga has stopped operating due to insufficient crude supplies, two engineers at the terminal told Reuters on Saturday, as a standoff between rival political factions shuts most of the country's oilfields.

This week's flare-up in a dispute over control of the central bank threatens a new bout of instability in the North African country, a major oil producer that is split between eastern and western factions.

The eastern-based administration, which controls oilfields that account for almost all the country's production, are demanding western authorities back down over the replacement of the central bank governor - a key position in a state where control over oil revenue is the biggest prize for all factions.

Exports from Hariga stopped following the near-total shutdown of the Sarir oilfield, the port's main supplier, the engineers said.

Sarir normally produces about 209,000 barrels per day (bpd). Libya pumped about 1.18 million bpd in July in total.

Libya's National Oil Corporation NOC, which controls the country's oil resources, said on Friday the recent oilfield closures have caused the loss of approximately 63% of total oil production.