LES ECHOS (France), TELEGRAPH (UK), REUTERS
PARIS – After six straight quarters of contraction, new signs were reported Wednesday that the recession in Europe’s single-currency euro zone may be set to end.
Manufacturing in the euro zone increased for the first time in well over a year, boosted by higher private sector output in Germany and France, July’s PMI index showed. The data drove the euro to a one-month high against the dollar, Reuters reports.
Martin Van Vliet, an analyst at ING, told French business daily Les Echos that the European Central Bank’s monetary policy to try to stimulate growth, coupled with the beginnings of recovery elsewhere in the world “have finally managed to stop the economic contraction” in the euro zone.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said the figures provided “encouraging evidence” to suggest that the eurozone could finally pull out if its recession in the third quarter, the Telegraph reports.
