-Jens Weidmann, Bundesbank Governor
Growth in Germany accelerated in the final quarter of the year, benefiting from falling oil prices and a weaker Euro. Economic output in the Euro zone powerhouse rose 0.7% in the three months through December, following a modest growth of 0.1% in the third quarter of 2014. On a yearly and non-seasonally adjusted basis, GDP grew 1.6%, overshooting analysts' expectations, and better than the previous quarter's 1.2% advance. However, France, the Euro zone's second biggest economy, grew just 0.1% in the final quarter, hampering the overall currency's bloc economic expansion. On an annual basis, France's GDP ticked up 0.2%, below analysts' estimates of 0.3%, and compared with the previous quarter's 0.4% growth. The Euro zone, meanwhile, posted a 0.3% quarterly GDP growth, while the region's economy expanded at a 0.9% pace from the previous year.
In the meantime, Jens Weidmann, the ECB Governing Council member and Bundesbank Governor, continues to criticize the quantitative easing programme unveiled by the ECB in an effort to underpin inflation in the Euro bloc. Weidmann argued that "there was no immediate need for this particular measure" and it should not be used as a substitution for structural reforms. German officials believe that structural reforms carried out by the region's weaker economies can be more effective than ECB's aggressive stimulus.
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