Belgium avoids recession: Central bank

The Belgian economy, considered a bellwether for the 17-nation eurozone, avoided recession in the first quarter when it grew 0.3 percent, central bank data showed Wednesday.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the economy contracted 0.1 percent, revised figures published by the central bank showed.

A recession is defined as two successive quarters of economic contraction.

On a 12-month basis, the economy grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter, though that was a sharply slower pace than the annualised 1.2 percent expansion in fourth quarter 2011.

The bank also revised its 2011 third quarter figure to zero growth instead of a 0.1 percent decline, which means that Belgium did not technically fall into recession last year, as initially believed.

On April 17, the International Monetary Fund forecast that the full eurozone would suffer a milder recession this year than previously thought.

The IMF raised its outlook to a contraction of 0.3 percent from an initial estimate of minus 0.5 percent.