Eurozone businesses are on course to end the year in positive mode
Growth picked up markedly in the final quarter, making it the strongest quarter for nearly five years, according to the respected Markit survey.
Markit pronounced that it would be a “solid end” to 2015 for the euro bloc.
Manufacturing rose at its fastest rate in 20 months and outpaced growth in the services sector for the first time in more than a year.
Expectations are that growth could be 0.4% during the last three months of the year. This follows 0.3% expansion in the third quarter.
Markit pointed out that it has been the largest increase in business activity for 4.5 years
Employment growth also climbed to its highest rate since May 2011, according to Markit.
The European Central Bank heightened its quantitative easing stimulus programme in December with plans to extend its asset purchase programme to at least March 2017.
Comments
How could this country be 'free' when it still owes 72billion of the original 78 billion euros that the Troika lent and could slip back into its bad old ways in an instant? As many would say has already happened. Just a billion a year paid back!
With hundreds of millions of interest still to be added on over the years ahead. Though unlikely the Troika will ever be paid back as there are over two hundred billion of other debt also waiting to be paid !
Yet the top 1,000 Portuguese clans own or control everything of value but pay almost no tax ! Presumably the Troika will now recreate the now closed tax unit the Troika understandably insisted was set up to hunt these 'elites' down.