French economy grew by 0.6% in Q1, fastest in two years

[PARIS] The French economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, its highest growth rate in two years, official data showed on Wednesday.

The first quarter data, which showed that growth in the euro zone's second-largest economy has started to pick up, beat analysts expectations of 0.4 per cent growth.

The INSEE national statistics agency revised the annual growth rates of the previous three years as well as debt-to-GDP ratios, while the 2014 public deficit was confirmed at 4.0 per cent of GDP.

REUTERS