Slow eurozone growth adds to pressure on ECB to act

The eurozone recovery failed to gather momentum last quarter, as France unexpectedly stalled and economies from Italy to the Netherlands shrank.

Growth of just 0.2% for the currency bloc, half as much as economists had forecast, adds pressure on the ECB to deliver stimulus measures next month in its battle against weak inflation and anaemic output.

While German expansion doubled to 0.8%, that wasn’t enough to offset renewed weakness across the region, including a 0.7% drop in Portugal.