Athens, New York: Europe’s growth resurgence is showing little sign of losing steam yet and economists have taken notice.

In Bloomberg’s monthly survey, the first of the year, respondents bumped up their 2018 outlook to 2.2 per cent, close to the decade-high 2.4 per cent pace estimated for last year. The optimism is in contrast to the muted view at the start of 2017. Economists back then saw momentum slowing, but had to keep upgrading projections to keep up with the economy’s performance.

The 19-nation region has started the year with a string of positive numbers, including stronger business sentiment in Germany and France, its biggest economies. Having long cast off its “sick man” tag, the improvements have given fresh impetus to the European Central Bank’s hawkish policy makers to push for an end to crisis-era stimulus.

“This current cycle has plenty of fuel left in the tank,” said Angel Talavera, an economist at Oxford Economics in London. “The rebound in the hard numbers provides a more consistent growth picture for the Eurozone.”

The ECB has acknowledged the upturn, saying in comments published last week that it sees an “increasingly self-sustaining” expansion. The document, an account of its December policy meeting, also said Donald Trump’s US tax cuts could have a greater than expected impact on euro-area growth.

There was also a hint that its guidance on future policy actions could be revisited early this year. But with inflation still undershooting the goal of just below 2 per cent, any changes will be gradual. Economists see consumer-price growth averaging 1.5 per cent this year and 1.6 per cent in 2019, and no interest-rate increases until 2019.

As the economy improves, that’s given a lift to the euro, which is already up about 1.6 per cent this year after a 14 per cent jump in 2017. There’s a risk that could weigh on growth and suppress headline inflation.

Euro-area industrial production rose more than forecast in November and unemployment continued to slowly decline. A Purchasing Managers Index of activity increased to the strongest in seven years in December.

In Germany, the region’s biggest economy, business confidence is near a record high. That’s despite a political impasse that’s left Chancellor Angela Merkel unable to form a new coalition government since elections in September. There has been some progress, however, with her party reaching a preliminary accord with the Social Democrats late last week.