(RTTNews) - The eurozone continued to lag behind the global economic recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009, posting anemic growth numbers that may put aid for debt-ridden Greece in doubt.
The eurozone's gross domestic product grew by only 0.1% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three-month period. While economic activity picked up for the third straight quarter, the anemic fourth quarter growth disappointed economists, who were expecting growth to ease to 0.3% from 0.4% in the third quarter.
The German economy, Europe's largest, unexpectedly stagnated in the fourth quarter as final consumption expenditure and investment failed to support growth.
Better-than-forecast French growth figures may have prevented the eurozone economy from sliding back into contraction mode.
Greece, whose runaway deficits and sovereign debt issues have fueled a significant decline in the value of the euro, saw its output shrink by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, accelerating the decline of 0.5% in the previous three months.
The pace of the Greek recession casts serious doubts about whether Greece's population will accept cost cutting measures aimed at getting the nation's debt under control.
It is widely viewed that Greece must turn off its spending spigot as a prerequisite to any rescue package being offered by its fellow European Union members.
European leaders have agreed in principle to a plan for Greek aid, but few details have emerged. The European Commission is expected to outline the package on Monday.
The sluggish eurozone growth means that the European Central Bank, which leans toward keeping interest rates elevated in order to prevent inflation, will likely be forced to keep at a record low near one percent for the forseeable future.
German gross domestic product remained flat on a sequential basis in the fourth quarter, following a 0.7% rise in the previous three months, according to preliminary data published by the Federal Statistical Office on Friday.
On the flip side, a flash estimate from the French statistical office Insee showed that the country's gross domestic product rose 0.6% sequentially in the fourth quarter. Economists had forecast 0.5% rise.
The value of the euro, perhaps the best measure of the market's faith that the euro area is on a firm path to robust economy recovery, has plunged versus the US dollar over the past month.
As traders took in this morning's troubling growth figures from the Eurozone, the euro slumped to a 9-month low near $1.3530.