French economy likely to grow at 1% in 2016

French quarterly GDP grew from Q3's 0.3% to 0.2% in Q4, in line with consensus, suggesting that the economy expanded by 1.1 percent during the year 2015. The data, however, was somewhat mixed as investments increased by 0.8% in the quarter, while household spending decreased. December consumer goods spending data suggested a bounce back, while net trade continued to lower the GDP growth as imports increased at a faster rate than exports.

Spain posted a growth of 0.8% q/q in its fourth quarter, in line with the central bank's forecast. The economy grew by 3.2% during the year 2015, however, the growth pace is likely to slowdown in Q1 amid growing global turmoil.

"We expect France' annual GDP growth to be similar in 2016, at about 1% " says Capital Economics "We expect Spain's annual GDP growth to slow to about 2.5% in 2016 and 2.0% in 2017"