German economy powers up as Italy’s debt pile grows

Germany’s economy more than doubled its expansion rate in the first quarter as spending picked up, cementing its role as the growth engine for the region, while Italy’s economy expanded in the first quarter but still posted a record high government debt.

Showing the effects of high-powered monetary stimulus appear to be gaining traction, the eurozone’s dominant economy grew 0.7%, its strongest quarterly rate since an identical reading in the first quarter of 2014 as higher state and household expenditure more than offset a dip in foreign trade, the Federal Statistics Office said yesterday.

Separate national GDP data published yesterday showed that quarterly growth accelerated to 0.3% in Italy and to 0.5% in the Netherlands.