Professor Stanley Fischer
Professor Stanley FischerIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Numerous nations in Europe are still in denial about the magnitude of the economic crisis they are facing, Bank of Israel Gov. Stanley Fischer said Saturday.

Speaking at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's annual economic symposium, Fischer expressed concern about the fiscal struggles that lie ahead in the coming year.

Moreover, he wondered about the ability of eurozone members to “discipline their weaker brethren” in a way that would not create “the sort of tensions... the European Union was specifically intended to prevent.”

Fischer noted that 2012 has not been “a good year for the global economy.” He softened the harsh note with a prediction that next year could bring a 3% growth.

However, the Bank of Israel governor qualified it with that the comment that his optimism is not unusual:  It is an “almost inevitable feature of forecasts that next year looks better than the current year,” he said.