"Our eurosystem [and ECB] staff projections for the annual real GDP growth at 5,1% in 2021, 4,2% in 2022, 2,9% in 2023 and 1,6% in 2024, compared with our September staff projection the outlook has been revised down for 2022 and up for 2023," Lagarde told a press conference.
The ECB president also said that the re-introduced containment measures of some EU countries could delay the recovery, especially in travel, tourism, hospitality and entertainment.
"Our new staff projections foresee annual inflation at 2,6% in 2021 , 3,2% in 2022, 1,8% in 2023 and 1,8% in 2024, significantly higher than in the previous projections in September," Lagarde added.
In the previous September forecast, the regulator expected inflation at 2.2% in 2021, 1.7% in 2022, and 1.5% in 2023.