(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s economy is set to shrink in coming months as it struggles with the energy crisis and high inflation, the bloc’s Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni warned Monday. 

He was speaking ahead of a gathering of euro-zone finance ministers in Brussels and a few days before he presents the European Commission’s autumn forecasts Friday.

“We had a still positive quarter, which was not obvious and positive news,” Gentiloni told reporters. “But of course we also know that the economy is slowing down and a contraction is coming at least for the winter months.”

Asked about the coming update to the bloc’s economic forecasts, Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told journalists that it would “indicate further weakening of the economy” and confirm the high level of inflation.

He expects inflation to continue to slow, however, as energy prices have peaked and targeted measures are being taken to lower them, while the European Central Bank is raising interest rates.

--With assistance from Kamil Kowalcze, Alessandro Speciale and Jorge Valero.

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