EUROPE’S recovery from a recession induced by the COVID-19 pandemic has been somewhat delayed but should pick up pace from mid-year, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said in comments published by a French newspaper yesterday.

With eurozone nations locking down their economies to slow the spread of the COVID-19, the bloc’s economy shrank last quarter and a contraction in the first three months of 2021 is a distinct possibility as much of the services sector remains shut.

“We expect the upswing to gather pace around the middle of the year, even if the uncertainties persist,” Lagarde told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview. “Let’s be clear: we will not see a return to pre-pandemic levels of economic activity before mid-2022.” (SD-Agencies)