Eurozone recovery stalls in Q2 as German, French economies sputter

[BRUSSELS] Eurozone economic growth ground to a halt in the second quarter as Germany's economy shrank and France's stagnated.

The zero growth reported by statistics agency Eurostat yesterday was cause for alarm throughout the 18-nation region, which is already bracing for the impact of sanctions imposed on and by Russia over Ukraine.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, contracted by 0.2 per cent in the quarter, undercutting Bundesbank forecasts that gross domestic product would be unchanged.