The eurozone economy will fare "a lot better" this year than initially feared, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday, as hopes grow that countries can avoid a painful recession.

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) appears on a screen as she speaks during a press conference on Governing Council meeting focused on monetary policy in the euro zone in Amsterdam on June 09, 2022. (File photo: AFP)

The economic "news has become much more positive in the last few weeks", Lagarde told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The ECB's forecast of 0.5 percent growth this year is not "brilliant" but "it is a lot better than what we had feared", Lagarde said.