Eurozone deficit hits target for first time since 2008
... Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a research group in London, said the eurozone’s deficit reduction, through what critics have come to call austerity budgeting, had come "at an enormous cost" in lost economic growth.
... Mr Tilford of the Centre for European Reform said it appeared that Europe, having been in a long slump, was now experiencing a cyclical pickup. The outlook remains poor, however, he said, "when the recovery we’re seeing is so weak and patchy, especially considering the losses of output we have seen in the eurozone."
With inflation now "exceptionally low," at less than 1 percent in the eurozone, Mr Tilford said: "The only way to be optimistic about eurozone debt would be to see a period of strong growth and a pickup in inflation. There’s no prospect of that at the moment."