German Growth Gives Rare Boost to Euro LONDON - There is precious little good news coming out of the 17-nation euro zone these days. So the unexpected announcement on Tuesday that Germany's economy grew by a robust 0.5 percent in the first quarter of the year was enough to give a mild boost to the battered single currency. The euro was up 0.3 percent against the dollar shortly after the start of trading. Would the rally last? Maybe not, said traders. Statistics issued elsewhere in the euro zone showed Germany's partners were still languishing in the recessionary doldrums. G.D.P. across the 17 nations of the zone as a whole stagnated in the first quarter, according to figures from the European Union's statistics office. As François Hollande was inaugurated as France's new president, and set off to Berlin for his first meeting with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, figures showed French growth in the first three months of the year was zero. Maybe he would use the latest indication of a robust German recovery to back his arguments that she should ease off the fiscal brake and go for growth. The positive news from Germany could, however, be eclipsed by developments in Greece, where politicians faced yet another "last chance" to form a government and avoid fresh elections that could prompt an almost inevitable departure from the euro zone. A number of European officials have suggested they would cope with Greece's departure from the common currency if its politicians failed to get their act together. Maria Fekter, the Austrian finance minister, told her European counterparts as they met on Monday: "Greeks must be clear that the situation is serious and that political pettifogging is out of place here." Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister, who chaired the meeting, said talk of a Greek exit was "nonsense, propaganda." "But the Greek public, the Greek citizens, have to know that we agreed on a program and this program has to be implemented," he added. The debate underlined suspicions that Greece's politicians are pushing the crisis to the wire in the hope that their European partners might relax demands for tougher austerity measures in order to keep the country in the euro zone. Party leaders have given up on forming a coalition after lengthy negotiations following the inconclusive election results of May 6. However, President Karolos summoned them for another meeting on Tuesday to see if they would accept establishing a government of technocrats.