Frankfurt am Main (AFP) – The European Central Bank on Thursday lifted its 2018 growth forecast for the eurozone from 2.3 to 2.4 percent, underscoring a bright outlook despite mounting political risks on the horizon.

The bank’s updated projections left growth forecasts unchanged for 2019 and 2020, at 1.9 and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Its inflation projections were also unchanged for 2018 at 1.4 percent, but slightly lowered for 2019 from 1.5 to 1.4 percent. The bank still expects inflation to hit 1.7 percent in 2020.