Eurozone economy sees growth pick up

by Natalie de Vallieres, Judith Stein, and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Brussels

1 hour ago

The eurozone economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 0.3% in the last three months of 2014, figures show.

European statistics agency Eurostat also said gross domestic product (GDP) in the currency bloc rose by 0.9% across 2014 as a whole.
Figures released earlier showed Germany's economy - the largest in the eurozone - grew by 0.7% in the three months to the end of December.
But France's economy grew by just 0.1% in the same period.

'Thunderbolt'

While Germany's economy shrank 0.1% in the third quarter of last year, strong domestic demand helped it to regain momentum in the fourth quarter, the Federal Statistical Office said. The economy grew by 1.6% during 2014.
An analyst described Germany's growth as "a thunderbolt", with recovery starting earlier than expected.
Berenberg Bank economist Christian Schulz suggested cheaper oil, a weaker euro exchange rate and government bond buying by the European Central Bank (ECB) should all help the German economy and "more than offset the serious short-term risks such as Greece and Russia".
"While the first half of 2015 could still be a little more subdued due to these risks, we expect German growth to reach trend levels a bit above 2% in the summer 2015."
Meanwhile, France's anaemic fourth quarter growth meant the economy expanded by just 0.4% over 2014 as a whole.
"It's obviously still too weak, but the conditions are ripe to permit a cleaner start of activity in 2015," said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin.
Of the 18 member states of the eurozone only three recorded a contraction in their economy: Greece, Finland and Cyprus.
In the case of Greece the 0.2% contraction in the economy in the fourth quarter came after three consecutive quarters of growth.