A configuration likely to keep long-term interest rates very low in the euro zone

Long-term interest rates are likely to remain very low in the euro zone in 2019, due to: The fall in the oil price, and therefore in inflation, and therefore in expected inflation; The weaker growth, which is mainly bolstered by the fall in the oil price; Germany's budget surplus and the low fiscal deficit in the euro zone as a whole; The likely implementation of another TLTRO by the ECB, which will enable banks to buy government securities; The likely appreciation of the euro against the dollar due to the rapid increase in the US external deficit; Continued low interest rates in the United States.