The eurozone economy is likely to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year in quarterly terms, though the recovery would be uneven across countries and sectors, eurozone finance ministers said on Monday. The finance ministers, known as the eurogroup, remained upbeat about economic growth prospects despite the Omicron coronavirus variant, and they agreed to continue the moderately supportive fiscal policy next year. The Omicron variant has increased concern among some economists that more lockdowns are inevitable, which could lower growth after this year’s roller-coaster ride. “The euro area economy is recovering from the recession faster than expected,” the ministers said in a statement, citing the latest European Commission forecasts for GDP growth of five per cent in 2021 and 4.3 per cent in 2022. German industrial production increased by 2.8 per cent month-on-month in October, following the 0.5 per cent month-on-month fall seen in September. It was the third monthly increase seen this year. Economists had forecast production to grow by 0.8 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, industrial production was still down by 0.6 per cent, from -0.4 per cent in September. The...