Italy’s economy returned to growth in the first quarter after two quarters of contraction, giving the populist government a boost ahead of European elections.

Gross domestic product expanded by 0.2 per cent in the three months to March, having dropped by 0.1 per cent in the final two quarters of 2018, the Istat statistics office reported on Tuesday.

The return to slender growth was heralded by surprisingly positive industrial output figures in January and February after four months of contraction. Year-on-year GDP growth was 0.1 percent, Istat said, buoyed by all sectors, including agriculture, industry and services. Last year’s technical recession had put pressure on the populist government in the eurozone’s third largest economy, which took power in June on the back of big-spending electoral promises.