Brussels — Stagnation in Italy and problems with German car production dragged economic growth in the eurozone down to its slowest rate in four years, official data showed on Tuesday, prompting concern among analysts. Gross domestic product in the 19-country single currency area rose just 0.2% from July to September, the Eurostat agency said, compared with 0.4% in the preceding quarter. The disappointing data come with Brussels locked in a standoff with Rome over its populist government’s plans for larger deficits despite the high public debt load. Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy, reported zero growth in the third quarter for the first time in four years on the back of “persistent weakness in industrial activity”, according to the Italian statistics institute.
Concerns are mounting about Italy’s public finances, with Moody’s ratings agency cutting the country’s credit rating to a notch above junk status earlier this month and Standard and Poor’s downgrading its out...
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