The recovery in the euro zone "will require a prolonged effort"

"I think that we are now, in May and June, at an economic turning point. Now the economy will grow rapidly, but from a low level. This means that, even with dynamic growth over the rest of the l year, the euro area will not return to its 2019 GDP level until the spring of next year, "said Lane.

"In the labor market, the unemployment rate should return to its 2019 level in 2023 alone. The road will be long. It will require a prolonged effort on the budgetary and monetary plan to support the recovery" he warns, stressing that "the recovery will not be a very quick process, you have to be aware of that ".

If you compare with the level of activity in 2019, "today we are probably 4% or 5% below. This is a considerable contraction. In a typical recession, the decline is rather 2% or 3% ", highlights the chief economist of the ECB.

But for Philip Lane, "There are reasons to be optimistic. Compared to the decade since the 2008 financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic will be an event that will last two or three years. The recession will be shorter. and the scars could remain limited ".

Mr Lane, however, underlines that there are "also sources of concern. The lockdowns linked to the lockdown have not only affected the economy. Education and health have also been disrupted, which will have lasting consequences. . The effects of the pandemic are also very concentrated in certain sectors: the hotel industry and tourism, in particular, which will be permanently penalized ".