Monetary policy in times of geopolitical tensions and technological disruption - Suomen Pankki

Governor Olli Rehn delivered a speech at the CEPS Macro group webinar on 20 October 2026 The euro area economy has shown resilience and performed somewhat better than expected despite the tensions in the Middle East. Expectations for growth in the rest of the year have also strengthened compared to earlier projections. Irish GDP figures, however, complicate the interpretation of latest statistical estimates, as the activities of multinational enterprises in Ireland add significant volatility to quarterly euro area growth figures. Revised euro area growth in the second quarter was 0.6%. But an adjusted measure that uses modified domestic demand instead of GDP for Ireland shows a stable moderate quarterly growth of 0.