Germany's trade surplus shrinks for first time since
2009
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[February 08, 2018]
By Michael Nienaber
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's trade surplus
fell last year for the first time since 2009, data showed on Thursday,
in a further sign that vibrant domestic demand is sucking in more
imports and slowly re-balancing the country's export-oriented economy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has come in for criticism from the European
Commission and U.S. President Donald Trump for Germany's large trade
surplus, while scepticism towards free trade is mounting in some poorer
euro zone countries.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has also urged
Berlin to increase domestic spending and boost imports, warning that
ballooning current account surpluses in countries such as Germany are
partly responsible for the rise of protectionism elsewhere.
"The improvement of the trade balance is driven by imports and not by
exports," Dekabank analyst Andreas Scheuerle said. "This means we don't
have to put the brakes on exports. This is a win-win situation."
In 2017, Germany's trade surplus shrank to 244.9 billion euros ($300.9
billion) from its record high of 248.9 billion euros in the previous
year, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office. It was the
first decline since 2009.
The wider current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods,
services and investments, edged down to 257.1 billion euros from 259.3
billion euros the previous year.
"This will please U.S. President Donald Trump, for whom the German
export surplus has always been a thorn in his side," said Christiane von
Berg from BayernLB.
Exports rose by 6.3 percent in 2017 to a record high of 1.28 trillion
euros, the data showed. But this was outpaced by an 8.3 percent increase
in imports to 1.03 trillion euros, also an all-time high.
"Demand for German products clearly picked up on all continents. But
we're particularly pleased about the economic upturn in Europe," said
Holger Bingmann, head of the BGA trade association.
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A container ship is seen at the shipping terminal Eurokai in the
Port of Hamburg, Germany November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
The recent appreciation of the euro has so far hardly affected German export
flows, Bingmann added.
The German government expects the consumer-led upswing in Europe's largest
economy to continue this year, forecasting 2.4 percent growth for 2018 after 2.2
percent in the previous year.
To secure a fourth term as chancellor, Merkel on Wednesday handed her Social
Democrat coalition partners control of the finance ministry, giving them licence
to spend a record budget surplus, and embracing their demands for European
reform.
The agreed hike in additional state spending is likely to boost domestic demand
even further and help to reduce the still-large trade surplus in coming years.
A government report said last month import growth was expected to continue to
outpace export growth in 2018.
In December alone, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 0.3 percent on the month
while imports rose by 1.4 percent, the data from the statistics office showed.
The exports figure beat expectations of a 1.0 percent fall while imports also
came in stronger than the forecasted 0.5 percent decrease.
The seasonally adjusted trade surplus in December narrowed to 21.4 billion
euros. This was smaller than the Reuters consensus forecast of a surplus of 21.7
billion euros.
($1 = 0.8140 euros)
(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Paul Carrel and Andrew Roche)
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