Brussels, 12/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - In their declaration on budget policy in the eurozone (adopted by Eurogroup on Thursday evening), finance and economy ministers were relatively optimistic about the strength of economic recovery. Eurogroup reports that economic recovery is being experienced in the eurozone, despite some delay compared with the Commission's spring forecasts. Commissioner Pedro Solbes said that by the end of the year, the eurozone would be close to its growth potential, pointing to positive elements like the fall in inflation and the euro-dollar exchange rate. Concerning the euro, the ministers, Commission and the European Central Bank noted that following the recent rise in the value of the euro on the foreign exchange market, the single currency now better reflected the fundamentals of the eurozone.