The European economy contracted more than expected during the first quarter of the year and there are no clear signs of return to economic growth, said Axel Weber, member of the Central European Bank's Governing Council.

In an interview for Financial Times, the head of the German Central Bank (Bundesbank), said that the recession may temper after two rather good months for the banking system, but that the recession is quite deep on a global level.

"In terms of the global economy we are still in the midst of a sharp downturn, which is pretty much synchronized across all regions, including emerging markets. When it comes to Europe, the decline in the first quarter has probably been somewhat stronger than the decline in the fourth quarter of last year. For Germany, pretty much the same holds. In the wake of global downturn and plunge in world trade, the German economy in my view has been affected more than other countries as it is relatively vulnerable to foreign demand shocks because of its very high degree openness and high share of capital goods in exports that are orientated towards emerging markets", said Weber, according to FT. The European economy contracted more than expected during the first quarter of the year and there are no clear signs of return to economic growth, said Axel Weber, member of the Central European Bank's Governing Council.

In an interview for Financial Times, the head of the German Central Bank (Bundesbank), said that the recession may temper after two rather good months for the banking system, but that the recession is quite deep on a global level.

"In terms of the global economy we are still in the midst of a sharp downturn, which is pretty much synchronized across all regions, including emerging markets. When it comes to Europe, the decline in the first quarter has probably been somewhat strong