0.1% french economic-growth in the quarter / 4 as expectations

Preliminary data from the French National Institute of Statistics showed on Friday that the The country’s economy grew by 0.1 percent In the last quarter of 2014, in line with analysts’ expectations.

The 33 analysts, polled by Reuters, had expected, on average, the growth of the French economy by 0.1 percen. That was during the three months to December, compared with the previous quarter, which amounted to 0.3 percent growth.

The growth rate – which found support in consumer spending and public spending- means that the second largest economy in the euro zone grew by 0.4 percent over the past year.That’s in line with the government’s estimates of the growth rate during the year as a whole. This is the third year in a row which is growing by 0.4 percent.

Socialist President Francois Olond Government look forward to one percent of GDP in 2015. It also hopes that the weak growth period, which kept the low investment and high unemployment, ends.

French central bank forecast growth of 0.4 percent in the first quarter of this year supported by the increase of industrial production and a slight improvement in the service sector activity.