Brussels, 15/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Central Bank appears increasingly pessimistic regarding the prospects for growth in the euro zone for 2001 and 2002. In its June monthly bulletin, published on Thursday, the ECB considers that the prospects of growth are being subjected to "deep uncertainty" and refers to "risks of a decline in growth in the euro zone due to the possibility of a more marked and prolonged global slowdown in growth than currently predicted". It does not rule out that the deterioration of the environment outside the euro zone should have a greater impact than expected. According to its most recent forecasts, published the same day, growth should be situated at between 2.2% and 2.8% in 2001, whereas it had predicted between 2.6% and 3.6% in December last. In 2002, it considers that growth should be between 2.1% and 3.1%. The same day, the ECB upwardly reviewed its predictions over inflation, with a range of between 2.3 and 2.7%, whereas the trend would reverse in 2002, at between 1.2 and 2.4%. According to the Bank, the causes of this inflationary thrust are to be found in the rise in oil prices, the food crisis (mad cow and foot-and-mouth) and the depreciation of the euro in relation to the dollar.