Europe’s largest economies exit recession
Between April and June, the French and German economies experienced something new for a change: growth. Both grew by 0.3 per cent, bringing an end to year-long recessions. Experts stress that both countries have been able to capitalize on the export market. Notably, exports in Germany grew seven per cent in June – the greatest jump in nearly three years. The countries have also been successful in boosting consumer spending. Still, experts warn that the recent growth is unexpected–and fragile. “Investment is down [and] we still have surprisingly low stock levels,” Marie Diron, senior economist at Oxford Economics explained. Diron also suggested that growth figures could have been skewed by a trade imbalance. “Growth is boosted by the fact that imports fell sharply.” The eurozone region as a whole is still in recession, but things there are also improving. Between April and June, there was a only a 0.1 per cent contraction-compared to 2.5 per cent for the first three months of the year.