ECB’s Visco: Economic Outlook Improving But Recovery Still Fragile

9 April 2021

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – Vaccination progress is paving the way for brighter economic prospects, but the recovery remains delicate, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said on Friday.

In a statement made at a virtual meeting of the Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Visco, who heads Banca d’Italia, said that ‘[t]oday the economic outlook seems to be improving at last, thanks also to the rollout of vaccines’.

‘However, the recovery is still fragile, subject to a large degree of uncertainty and downside risks’, he said. ‘Delays in the distribution of vaccines, limited fiscal space, high indebtedness, and vulnerability to undesired capital flow volatility could impinge on many emerging and developing economies.’

Visco called for access to vaccines to remain a priority. ‘As long as the virus continues to spread uncontrollably in any part of the world, no country will be safe’, he said.

Low-income countries face worsened debt situations because of the pandemic, he said.