brussels july 14 reuters  the european commission cut its forecasts for economic growth in the euro zone for this year and next and revised up its estimates for inflation on thursday largely due to the impact of the war in ukraine in its quarterly forecasts brussels confirmed its more downbeat outlook which it had already discussed with euro zone finance ministers on monday read more  the eu executive now predicts growth of 26 this year for the 19country currency bloc slightly less than the 27 it had forecast in may but next year when the impact of the ukraine war and of higher energy prices may be felt even more acutely growth is now forecast to be 14 instead of the 23 previously estimated for the wider 27country european union the growth forecast was unchanged at 27 this year but revised down to 15 in 2023 from 23 in a major change the commission also raised its estimates for euro zone inflation which this year is now expected to peak at 76 before falling to 40 in 2023 in may the commission had forecast prices in the euro zone would rise 61 this year and 27 in 2023 brussels warned headline inflation could move even higher if gas prices soared due to russia cutting off supplies which might lead to a further downward revision of growth risks to the outlook from a resurgence of the covid19 pandemic could also not be ruled out despite these high risks the commission underlined that the euro zone was not expected to tip into a recession and the forecasts could also improve if recent declines of oil and commodity prices continued thanks to a strong labour market with historically low unemployment rates the commission said private consumption could also prove more resilient to increasing prices if households were to use more of their accumulated savings germany the eus biggest economy would see growth slow to 14 this year and 13 in 2023 the commission had in may forecast expansions of respectively 16 and 24 france is expected to grow by 24 this year instead of the previously forecast 31 next year growth is estimated to slow further to 14 against 18 predicted in may among the three biggest economies of the bloc italy is the only one that is expected to grow this year by more than previously forecast it is now seen to expand by 29 rather than the 24 estimated in may however the country is expected to experience a marked slowdown next year when growth is predicted at 09 less than other large economies and down from a previous forecast of 19 reporting by francesco guarascio fraguarascio and bart meijer editing by philip blenkinsop