"At the beginning of the fourth quarter we recorded a weakening in the confidence indices and first signs of a possible economic slowdown," Stark was quoted as saying by Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview.
MILAN (Reuters) - The first signs of a possible economic slowdown in the euro area emerged in the fourth quarter despite strong growth in the previous quarter, European Central Bank's executive board member Juergen Stark said on Tuesday.
"At the beginning of the fourth quarter we recorded a weakening in the confidence indices and first signs of a possible economic slowdown," Stark was quoted as saying by Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview.
"But these indicators are still well above the long-term average," he said.
The ECB official said he was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the outlook for euro zone growth and stressed that the fundamentals of European economy were good.
!ADVERTISEMENT!"I cannot rule out the possibility that the market turbulence experienced in recent months will have a stronger impact on the real economy, but the fundamentals are better today than they were at the beginning of the decade," he said.
Stark also said inflation in the euro zone could peak in the coming months but is expected to gradually fall afterwards.
"Maybe a peak will be reached in the coming months. Then I expect a gradual fall," Stark was quoted as saying.
Inflation was at 3.1 percent in November, mainly because of base effects and after an increase in raw material prices, Stark explained.
(Reporting by Lisa Jucca, editing by Mike Peacock)
