Warsaw - Germany’s economy grew at its fastest pace in two years at the start of 2016 as spending domestically helped offset weakness in global trade.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose a seasonally-adjusted 0.7% in the three months ended March 31, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said on Friday. That beat the 0.6% estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The economy expanded 1.6% from a year ago.
Germany has benefited from record-low unemployment that has supported consumer demand, while European Central Bank stimulus is driving a cyclical recovery in the 19-nation eurozone as a whole. Even so, the Bundesbank has said it sees signs of slowing momentum in Germany this quarter and concerns remain that a slowdown in China, the country’s third-biggest trading partner, will weigh on demand.
“Private households and the state raised their consumer spending at the start of the year,” the statistics office said in a statement. “Considerably more was invested in construction and equipment,” in part because of mild weather.
Incoming data backs the view that the pace of growth may be slackening. Industrial production slumped in both Germany and the euro zone in March, and though German exports picked up, imports shrank. Business confidence in the country deteriorated last month.
Growth figures for the currency bloc are scheduled to be published by Eurostat at 08:00. Economists in a separate Bloomberg survey predict the region’s expansion accelerated to 0.6% last quarter, in line with a preliminary estimate released two weeks ago. The report will be preceded by GDP data from the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Rand - Dollar
19.01
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.68
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.29
-0.4%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.24
-0.4%
Rand - Yen
0.12
-0.1%
Platinum
952.30
-2.4%
Palladium
1,036.00
+1.3%
Gold
2,371.75
-0.5%
Silver
28.27
+0.6%
Brent Crude
90.02
-0.1%
Top 40
66,899
0.0%
All Share
72,995
-0.0%
Resource 10
63,378
+2.8%
Industrial 25
97,824
-0.5%
Financial 15
15,384
-1.7%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes
Government tenders
Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders