By Peter Vanden Houte, Chief Economist, Belgium, Luxembourg
The eurozone economy started the year on a stronger footing. But the coronavirus disruption is likely to become a major drag that might only peter out in the course of the second quarter. Negative GDP growth in the first half now looks likely.
Before and after
Just when we thought that things were looking up and the manufacturing recession was largely behind us, the coronavirus dealt a serious blow to the growth outlook, blindsiding global central banks and sending financial markets into panic mode.
While data from