BRUSSELS: Economists expect consumer and business surveys due in the coming week to demonstrate that the economy of the eurozone continued to pick up in April, despite fears of a possible Greek default.
Data for Germany, France, Belgium and the 19-nation single-currency bloc overall will probably show improvement compared with March, according to median forecasts by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
But some analysts fear the mood of investors could be damped by concerns about the negotiation between Greece and its international creditors.
Some indicators could “suggest that financial markets are more concerned about the implications of the Greek crisis for the rest of the eurozone,” said Jennifer McKeown, analyst at Capital Economics, in a research note Friday.
Worries about Greece drove global stocks to slump Friday, while European bond yields–especially those of German 10-year debt–touched record-lows. The European Union’s executive arm said this week that is was “not satisfied” with the slow process of the talks, as Athens still has to agree to the set of economic reforms imposed by creditors.
