Good news for Euro zone economy as Dutch bank Governor hopes to climb by second half

Dutch central bank Governor Klaas Knot expects the eurozone economy to pick up speed in the second half after a sluggish start to the year, but in an interview with Handelsblatt, the noted hawk was distinctly dovish on long-term interest rates. Knot, one of the most prominent hawks on the European Central Bank's rate-setting committee, said though he was strongly in favour of normalising policy after years of anti-crisis measures, it was clear that even afterwards interest rates would be lower than before the crisis.

He also repeated his scepticism about multi-tiered deposit rates to help well-capitalised banks with excess liquidity, saying he would need to see clear evidence that negative interest rates were hurting lending to the real economy.