FRANKFURT- A string of positive economic indicators in the euro zone confirm that a recovery is on its way but the bloc may still need years to reach pre-crisis levels of activity, European Central Bank policymaker Klaas Knot said on Thursday.

"I would say that recent data solidified the confidence in our baseline scenario," Knot, the head of the Dutch central banks, said in an online forum. "Yet, even in that baseline scenario, economic activity will only approach the pre-Corona 2019 level by the end of our projection horizon, at the end of 2022."

Under this baseline, the ECB expects GDP to shrink by 8.7% this year and to grow by 5.2% in 2021.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Catherine Evans) ((Balazs.Koranyi@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1244; Reuters Messaging: balazs.koranyi.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))