As global stock markets recovered some of their record $3 trillion in losses on June 28 in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, Europe's central bank chief expressed relief that the economic damage has not been as bad as feared.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told EU leaders at a summit in Brussels that the financial damage from the so-called "Brexit" so far appears to be manageable, EU Council President Donald Tusk said.
"President Mario Draghi was tonight absolutely clear...the negative effects are less negative than we expected before the Brexit," Tusk said.
Still, Draghi told EU leaders that Britain's departure could shave 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points from eurozone growth over the next three years, as private forecasters have predicted.
Draghi predicted "substantially lower growth in [Britain] with a possible negative spillover" to the rest of the world, but that forecast "was less negative than we expected before the Brexit," Tusk said.
Stocks rose worldwide for the first time in three days on June 28, and the battered British pound and euro climbed slightly as investors snapped up Brexit-bashed assets in a bargain-hunting wave.