The euro-area economy picked up momentum at the end of last year as Germany reasserted itself as the driver of growth, offsetting weakness in Greece and Italy.
Gross domestic product rose 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter after expanding 0.2 per cent in the previous three months, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said Friday.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted growth of 0.2 per cent. The Greek economy unexpectedly shrank 0.2 per cent.
While the currency bloc’s economy is overcoming its longest-ever slump, falling consumer prices and the rise to power of an anti-austerity party in Greece have increased the risks to growth.
To avert deflation in a region where consumer spending is bolstering the recovery, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced a €1.1 trillion-euro quantitative-easing package that has already pushed down bond yields and the single currency.
“For the first time in two years, we can say that the region is going for solid growth,” said Anna Maria Grimaldi, an economist at Intesa Sanpaolo SpA in Milan. “The euro area is supported by the very strong tailwinds of the fall of the euro, the fall of oil price and the fall of interest rates sparked by ECB QE.”
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM
