16/08/2010
The European Union's economy grew at higher levels than expected, with gross domestic product (GDP) expanding at its fastest rate since 2006.
Research from EU statistics body Eurostat found that GDP grew by 1 per cent in the in the second quarter of 2010, compared to 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year, representing a marked increase. Exports too, saw a rise in demand to 5.2 per cent between May and June, according to Bloomberg.
Reviving global fortunes will certainly give a boost to both multinational corporations and SME's looking to expand their businesses. With more readily available loans and finance solutions available such as factoring, business fortunes are on the up.
Hans Bevers, an economist at KBC, spoke to Reuters about Eurostat figures, saying: ''There was a common sense among economists that the second quarter GDP figure would be very good, and it's actually better than expected.''
Specifically UK GDP grew by 1.1 per cent in Q2 2010 according to MarketWatch, with other euro-zone countries also seeing strong GDP growth including Germany at 2.2 per cent, France at 0.6 per cent and the Netherlands seeing a GDP rise of 0.9 per cent. EU statistics also show that the Union trumped US GDP growth in the same period by around 0.5 per cent.
With European trade deficits closing and most banks passing the stringent 'stress tests', continued economic growth over the next quarter is looking likely, boosting business throughout the region.
Sarah Howard