ECB Is Set to Acknowledge Economic Slowdown, Press Ahead

Growth has slowed materially, Italy’s standoff with Brussels shows few signs of abating and the slump in oil prices threatens to depress pay growth. Against this backdrop, Bloomberg Economics expects the European Central Bank to lower its gross domestic product forecasts, but strike an assured tone at the Dec. 13 meeting and press conference -- it will want to prevent expectations of rate increases from slipping further into the future.