BRUSSELS (AP) – The eurozone economy grew by a solid, if unspectacular, quarterly rate of 0.5 percent in the first three months of the year, official figures showed Wednesday.
The increase reported by statistics agency Eurostat on Wednesday was in line with market expectations but may prove a slight disappointment to some in the markets following a run of other strong economic data across the single currency bloc. A number of economists had predicted a pick-up in the pace of growth from the previous quarter’s 0.5 percent.
The eurozone economy has been expanding steadily for a few years now but failed to push into a high gear, largely because the region battled with sky-high debts in many countries, notably Greece.
No country breakdown was provided by Eurostat on Wednesday.
There are hopes that growth will pick up steam in the second quarter following recent surveys indicating an uptick in April, particularly in France. The prevailing view in the markets is that a victory in Sunday’s presidential election for centrist Emmanuel Macron over Marine Le Pen from the far-right could further boost the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.