German recovery stalls
GERMANY’S recovery from recession has hit the buffers in the final quarter of 2009, according to preliminary figures released on Friday.
The German economy failed to grow in the last three months of the year, leaving GDP unchanged compared with the previous quarter.
Meanwhile France reported a 0.6 per cent rise in GDP for the same three-month period – better than analysts had forecast.
The figures represent a slowdown in the economies of the 16-nation zone, which grew by 0.4 per cent between July and September last year.
Figures also showed the eurozone economy grew 0.1 per cent in the same quarter.
The Italian economy shrank by 0.2 per cent after growing by 0.6 per cnet in the previous quarter.
They also showed that Spain and Greece remained in recession, with the Greek economy contracting by 0.8 per cent.