Eurozone Out Of Recession – ME Still Stronger

The Eurozone is out of recession after 18 months of stuttering economic contraction.

The zone’s GDP grew by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of the year, marking the second successive period of growth.

The news was expected after Germany and France, two of the economic powerhouse for the region, reported respective growth of 0.7 and 0.5 per cent for Q2.

However the announcement papers over the economic cracks still seen on a country-by-country basis.

Spain saw its economic output fall by 0.1 per cent for the quarter, after months of wrangling over accepting a bailout for its beleaguered banks.

Italy and the Netherlands also saw their GDP fall by 0.2 per cent.

Surprisingly, Portugal showed the strongest growth with a rise of 1.1 per cent, though it had accepted a multi-billion euro bailout earlier in the year.

Middle East growth rates have considerably outperformed its Eurozone peers in recent years.

The United Arab Emirates reported 4.4 per cent growth for 2012 and its Economy Minister, Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri, expects a similar figure for 2013.

Bahrain reported growth of 4.2 per cent for the first quarter of the year while Qatar has forecast growth of 5.3 per cent for the year.