Eurozone sees sharp slowdown in second quarter

THE eurozone economy slowed sharply in the second quarter, hobbled by sluggish growth in Germany and stagnation in France, raising fears of a longer-term dip that could derail efforts to resolve the bloc’s debt crisis.

The 17-nation single currency area grew by just 0.2% on a quarterly basis, data showed yesterday, a touch under forecasts and well below first quarter growth of 0.8%.

The slowdown gripped the bulk of the region, with growth in the bloc’s powerhouse Germany sinking to just 0.2% in seasonally adjusted terms, its weakest in more than two years and slipping from a downwardly revised 1.3% in the first three months.