CNBC reports that Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra told that European countries could experience a “tremendous acceleration of growth” in the summer, as vaccinations are stepped up.

European economies are wrestling against one of the deepest shocks in history. The coronavirus pandemic has halted much of Europe’s economic activity and the Covid-19 vaccine rollout has been bumpy.

The European Commission cutting its GDP forecast for the year to 3.8%, from the 4.2% estimated in November. However, the Dutch finance chief is confident that economic activity will pick up in the summer.

“In my view, we have to be realistic but there is also reason to be slightly more optimistic than the commission has been in its forecasts, because if I look back at what we saw after the first wave of Covid, we saw in the Netherlands, but also in many other countries, a tremendous acceleration of growth,” Hoekstra told CNBC.

“It’ll take another couple of weeks or potentially another couple of months, but I’m optimistic about the phase just before summer,” Hoekstra said.