Germany’s economy skidded nearly to a halt in the second quarter, according to figures released Tuesday by the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden.
Stocks and the euro both fell on the news, which reflected the weakest growth Germany has seen since it emerged from its recession two years ago. There was hope, however, that a meeting scheduled for later in the day between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy would offer some new measures to cope with the euro zone debt crisis.
Germany actually grew at a slower pace than debt-troubled Spain, which gained 0.2% for Q2. Instead of market expectations of 0.5%, it added 0.1% to GDP, reflecting a slowdown in the global economy. That echoed an overall trend in the European Union (EU), which saw its GDP slow from a Q1 total of 0.8% to a Q2 figure of 0.2%.