FRANKFURT, Germany, March 23 (UPI) -- Pressure is building for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates, the Financial Times reports.
The recent Madrid train bombings have only caused business and consumer confidence, already sagging from the eurozone's slow economic recovery, to slump further.
Economists have revised growth forecasts for 2004 downward from 1.9 percent to 1.5 percent.
ECB Governing Council member Jaime Caruana said Monday indicators still show a gradual recovery. However, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told a recent press conference an upswing in consumer confidence and consumption would be necessary to maintain economic improvement.
The ECB is predicted to at least discuss lowering rates at its next monetary policy meeting on April 1.
