You can take a gloomy view of today’s eurozone GDP figures. Third quarter growth, at 0.4 per cent on the previous three months, was weaker than in the US and UK – where the talk is about quantitative easing and further measures to boost the economy - and the underlying trend appears to show a clear deceleration from the first half of the year.

But I suspect the ECB is not going to be too disappointed. Germany still managed an impressive 0.7 per cent expansion, while the French and Italian economies continue to expand, even if at a modest pace. Yves Mersch, Luxembourg’s central bank governor, has just told Bloomberg that the latest data were in line with the ECB’s “baseline scenario”. Certainly, the growth outlook will not stop the ECB from pressing ahead with its “exit strategy” to unwind emergency measures taken to support the financial system. Whether Ireland or the other “peripheral” eurozone countries do is another question… Read more