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Falling exports deal blow to German trade surplus


Bangladeshpost
Published : 11 Oct 2019 09:03 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 07:49 PM

Germany’s trade surplus fellsharply in August, official data released Thursday showed, undermined by aplunge in exports as trade conflicts and business uncertainty persisted, reports BSS/AFP.

Exports outweighed imports by 18.1 billion euros ($20 billion), federalstatistics authority Destatis said, down from 20.2 billion in July. The amount of goods sold abroad fell by 1.8 percent month-on-month, to101.2 billion euros, while imports added 0.5 percent to reach 85 billion.

The effects of the trade conflicts are clearer in a year-on-yearcomparison, with exports down 3.9 percent and imports shedding 3.1 percentcompared with August 2018. Looking in more detail at the latest figures, Germany’s European Unionneighbours remained its most important market, buying 57.5 billion euros ofgoods, down 3.3 percent year-on-year.

Exports to the rest of the world fell more quickly, by 4.8 percent, to43.7 billion. Imports from both the EU and third countries also fell. Germany’s export-intensive manufacturing sector will be eyeing closelytalks between the US and China that resume in Washington Thursday in a bid toresolve the trans-Pacific trade conflict.

Manufacturers are already in recession, weighing on the remainder of theeconomy. That has prompted many observers to suggest the country’s gross domesticproduct could shrink again in the third quarter, after falling 0.1 percent inApril-June — making for a “technical” recession, or two quarters of negativegrowth.