UniCredit CEO: EU GDP may grow

UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel added his voice to the cautious optimism expressed by many delegates at Davos over the economic outlook, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

UniCredit is expecting Europe to avoid a recession this year, he said, adding that the region may even see slight growth.

At the same time, he warned several risks could still derail the outlook, including the war in Ukraine and the impact of higher interest rates on economy.

Orcel has taken a relatively optimistic view, as UniCredit’s stock of non-performing loans is declining and the cost of risk is coming down.

“But if we are wrong, I have a big buffer equal to one year of cost of risk to compliment whatever hits me,” he said.