EC sees GDP growth at 1.5%, further fiscal consolidation required in France, Spain and Portugal

The Spring EU forecasts made a small upward revision to 2015 growth from 1.3% to 1.5%, while Greece's growth was revised down from 2.5% to 0.5%. 

Looking at the public deficits, France, Spain and Portugal are not expected to meet the respective government targets in 2015- 2016, thereby suggesting that these countries need to consider supplementary budget bills, notes Societe Generale in a report on Wednesday. 

On the data front, the final euro area services PMIs for April should show only minor downward revisions, suggesting that the recovery is not gaining strength compared to Q1 growth.