ECB's Lagarde to EU leaders: Eurozone economy headed for shard decline of 13%

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), told EU leaders on Friday that the eurozone economy could contract by around 13% in the second quarter, Reuters reported, citing diplomatic resources.

Lagarde further explained that the ECB's forecast was for a decline of 8.7% in the annual GDP in 2020. However, the ECB also expects the economy to rebound and expand by 5.2% in 2021. "The EU economy is experiencing a dramatic fall," Lagarde concluded.

Market reaction

The EUR/USD pair edged slightly lower in the last hours and was last seen trading flat on the day at 1.1202.