The French economy gained steam in the third quarter, but analysts still expect a sharp slowdown in the next few months.
The French data contrasted with the downturn in neighbouring Germany, although economists predicted the European Central Bank would cut rates by another half a point before the end of March to counter flagging growth in the eurozone as a whole.
French statistics office INSEE said today gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.5 per cent from the second quarter. Second-quarter growth was revised down to 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent previously.
This was the strongest rate of GDP growth since the fourth quarter of 2000, when the economy expanded by 0.8 per cent.
Officials, including Finance Minister Mr Laurent Fabius, have said French growth may fall slightly short of expectations in 2001 due to the September 11th attacks on the US but that a recession is not imminent.
The third-quarter figure was above the consensus forecast from 12 economists polled by Reuters for a quarterly increase of 0.3 per cent in the period.
But economists said that behind the buoyant headline lurked signs of a marked deterioration in the fourth quarter.