BRUSSELS: Economic growth in the Eurozone slowed to a nine-month low in December, as a fresh wave of the coronavirus rattled businesses, especially in Germany, a closely watched survey said on Thursday.

The survey, released by data firm IHS Markit, added that prices in Europe were continuing on their upward march, though rates of increase had peaked from their record highs a month ago.

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from IHS Markit, showed a slip to 53.4 in December, after posting 55.4 points in November and hitting a high of 59 points in August. A figure above 50 indicates growth.

Despite the headwinds, the outlook for the future remained strong, with the survey respondents confident that the pandemic-related problems, especially on supply chains, would retreat next year.

But Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit, warned that the new Omicron variant posed “further downside risks to the growth outlook, as we head into 2022.”

Any revived disruption to supply chains “could result in price pressures spiking higher again”, he said in a statement.

The inflationary push seen across the global economy has largely been downplayed as a short-term phenomenon by economists and central bankers.

But, with record highs persisting, political pressure is increasing on the policymakers to do something to slow the surge in prices, including cutting taxes and easing up on easy money policies at the central banks.

In Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, consumer prices hit a 29-year high in November, but European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde warned that tightening the monetary policy too early would hurt the region’s recovery.

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