Eurozone economy grew by 0.1% in Q1‎

Eurozone economy grew by 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023, preliminary figures showed, with German GDP stable over the period. A Reuters poll of economists expected a quarterly growth of 0.2%

Earlier this month, the Eurostat statistics agency revised its estimate for fourth-quarter GDP for the bloc from 0.1% quarterly growth to no growth, after 0.4% growth in the third quarter, as reported by CNBC. ,

National figures published on Friday also showed that the German economy stagnated in the first quarter compared to the previous three-month period. German statistics agency Destatis said it rose 0.2% on an adjusted annual basis and 0.1% on an unadjusted basis due to one additional working day in the previous year.

The numbers will be watched with interest ahead of the European Central Bank meeting on May 4, which seeks to tackle headline inflation of 6.9% and core inflation at a record high of 5.7%.

Some ECB policy makers stressed that they believe they should go ahead with rate hikes as they favor 25bp or even 50bp next week.