The European Central Bank said today in the Economic Bulletin that global growth is expected to slow in the near term and that the risk of a growing trade dispute between the major powers will weigh on sentiment.
"In the near term, the global economic momentum is expected to shrink," the ECB said in a bulletin largely in line with the September 13 monetary policy statement.
Increased tariffs and uncertainties about future trade relations are likely to affect global economic momentum in the future, ECB added. And with the recovery of the euro-zone economy, the European Central Bank has confirmed plans to cut bond purchases by half from October before the program ends by the end of the year.
The bank also said it would keep interest rates at record low levels next summer, with expectations of a small interest rate hike sometime in the fourth quarter of 2019.
