The economy in the eurozone grew faster in the first three months of 2016 than analysts had predicted.
Eurostat reported that GDP rose 0.6% in the first quarter and achieved this despite the turmoil in global markets at the beginning of the year.
The pace of growth was the fastest in a year for the 19-nation community. Moreover, it outstripped both the UK, which slowed to 0.4% growth, and the US with 0.5%.
The French economy managed to rally, expanding by 0.5% in the period, aided by a rise in consumer spending.
Spain forged ahead, achieving 0.8% growth.
Analysts expect good growth in Germany and modest growth in Italy when their figures are published.
At the same time, the region’s inflation rate dipped to -0.2% in April, down from zero in March. The fall was put down to vastly lower energy prices, estimated to be down 8.6% on the year, although not always obvious at Portugal’s petrol pumps.
The European Central Bank has warned that inflation is likely to remain low and could turn negative again in coming months. There has been no change to its target of “below but close to” 2%.
Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, has criticised the ECB saying that the record low interest rates were causing “extraordinary problems” for German banks and pensioners alike. He said that the situation risked creating anti-EU sentiment in Germany.
