Berlin - German exports edged up by a seasonally-adjusted
0.3 per cent in May, the country's statistics office said Thursday.
The increase helps to compensate for the hefty 5.0-per-cent drop
in German exports in April and adds to signs that the recession in
Europe's biggest economy is starting to bottom out.
However, the May increase was less than the 1.5-per-cent rise
forecast by economists.
Many economists also believe that as the world's leading export
nation, Germany could enjoy a rather speedy recovery from recession
on the back of a sustained upswing in global trade.
'It has always been clear that the German product specialisation
would enable the economy to benefit from any pick-up in global
activity,' said ING Bank economist Carsten Brzeski.
'German engineering and 'Made in Germany' will remain important
assets in the future,' he said.
But underscoring the scale of the downturn that has engulfed the
global economy over the last 8 months, German exports were down 24.5
per cent in May compared to the same month in 2008.
Releasing the figures Wednesday, the statistics office said German
imports fell 2.1 per cent in May, compared to a 6-per-cent fall in
April.
As a consequence, Germany's trade surplus in May widened to 9.6
billion euros (13.4 billion dollars) from 9.4 billion euros in the
previous month.
Economists had forecast a 0.8-per-cent month on month increase in
May imports. However, imports were 22.6 per cent lower in May than in
the same month last year.
Key forward-looking economic sentiment indicators have already
pointed to the slowdown in the German economy starting to bottom out
with business confidence in the nation rising for the third
consecutive month in June.
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