With the issue over Italy’s budget unnerving the euro area, the Eurozone’s growth rate unexpectedly slowed to a four-year low as confidence in the currency is beginning to waver as additional questions over Angela Merkel‘s future as Germany’s chancellor and ongoing Brexit negotiations have spooked the markets.
The Eurozone’s quarterly growth fell to 0.2%, down from 0.4% in the second quarter. This was far worse than previously estimated by the European Commission, as its economists had been expecting a 0.4% increase.
The new numbers could result in a change to the European Central Bank’s plan to push back the date of tightening its fiscal policies, according to incoming figures and trends.