BERLIN: German growth has signalled a winter recovery for the eurozone economies though some members, including crisis-hit Greece, were left trailing behind.
Official figures showed that GDP across the 19 members of the single currency expanded by 0.3% in the last three months of 2014, led by the export powerhouse Germany, which expanded 0.7%. Germany’s statistics office, Destatis, said domestic demand and exports were strong, helping the economy gather momentum at the end of 2014.
Economists believe growth could accelerate further this year. “The German economy looks set to continue surfing on a wave of economic wellbeing,” predicted Carsten Brzeski of ING, adding “with the strong labour market, wage increases, low energy prices and extremely low interest rates, consumers should continue to spend it”.