Finance Minister Christine Lagarde: Economy grew

The French economy grew by 0.3% between June and September, confirming its exit from recession, according to French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.

Ms Lagarde told Europe 1 radio that the economy would contract in 2009 overall but enter next year “with elan”.

Europe’s third-largest economy grew by the same amount in the second quarter, joining Germany and Japan in ending year-long contractions.

While the US has also left recession, the UK’s economy is still shrinking.

France and Germany may have been less hard hit than the UK by the global economic slowdown because their financial sectors, which were at the heart of the crisis, account for a smaller proportion of their economies.

Stronger exports and consumer spending, as well as government stimulus packages, have contributed to the growth in the eurozone’s largest economies.

But economists had expected France to grow by double what it actually did in the third quarter – predicting growth of 0.6% in the third quarter.