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Eurozone sees 0.2% Q3 growth
THE economy of the 17-nation euro bloc expanded 0.2 percent in the third quarter, thanks largely to growth in Germany and France during a turbulent period in which a raging debt crisis raised fears of a new recession, official data showed yesterday.
The second consecutive quarterly rise of 0.2 percent, reported by the European Union statistics office Eurostat, was widely-anticipated. Figures earlier had showed Germany and France grew solidly - 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent - during the July to September period as consumers continued to spend.
France, Europe’s second-biggest economy, managed to avoid falling into recession as the second quarter figures were revised to show a 0.1 percent contraction - a recession officially occurs after two quarters of negative growth.
However, many economists think the eurozone as a whole won’t be able to avoid a recession over the coming year as the debt crisis that’s already seen three countries - Greece, Ireland and Portugal - bailed out is now threatening much-bigger economies like Italy and Spain, and even raising questions over France’s debts
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