Off the wire
• DPP administration bears full responsibility for Taiwan not being invited to WHA: FM spokesperson  • Legendary Chinese art connoisseur celebrated in Beijing  • Namibia continues with energy saving campaign to eliminate inefficient bulbs  • DPP administration bears full responsibility for Taiwan not being invited to WHA: FM spokesperson  • Legendary Chinese art connoisseur celebrated in Beijing  • Namibia continues with energy saving campaign to eliminate inefficient bulbs  • DPP administration bears full responsibility for Taiwan not being invited to WHA: FM spokesperson  • Legendary Chinese art connoisseur celebrated in Beijing  • Namibia continues with energy saving campaign to eliminate inefficient bulbs  • DPP administration bears full responsibility for Taiwan not being invited to WHA: FM spokesperson  
You are here: 　

German industrial orders fall in March: stats

Xinhua,May 08, 2018 Adjust font size:

BERLIN, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The German manufacturing industry experienced another decline in new orders in March, figures by the German economy ministry showed on Monday.

The official monthly report cited preliminary data compiled by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. According to government statisticians, manufacturing firms received 0.9 percent fewer orders in March compared to February.

Meanwhile, an earlier estimate of 0.3 percent growth in February orders was revised downwards to a 0.2 percent decline after orders already fell by 3.5 percent in January.

Nevertheless, the ministry highlighted on Monday that the level of outstanding orders in the German manufacturing industry remained "very good" due to strong international demand in the course of 2017.

"The prospects for industrial growth are still favorable in spite of the speed bump hit by orders in the first quarter of 2018," a statement by the ministry read.

In Q1 2018, orders were down by 2.1 percent compared to the same period last year. The report was released shortly after several leading economic think tanks and government agencies in Germany had pointed to early signs that the country's ongoing economic boom was coming to an end.

The Federal Statistical Office mainly attributed the development in industrial orders to weakening demand for German products in international markets and the eurozone in particular. New international orders fell by 2.6 percent in general and by as much as 3.0 percent in the European currency union in March.

By contrast, domestic orders rose by 1.5 percent in March. Following a recent decline in Germany's trade surplus for 2017, the finding constitutes further tentative evidence of a gradual re-balancing of the eurozone's largest economy away from one-sided export-led growth.

Berlin has been criticized repeatedly by U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, for allegedly contributing to global imbalances due to the competitiveness of German exports. The issue is a key sticking point in the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and the European Union, with Trump threatening to impose steep import tariffs on German carmakers like BMW. Enditem

 

Related News & Photos