Euro Fx - Germany trade surplus declines. France trade hits record deficit. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

July 9, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Euro Fx - Germany trade surplus declines. France trade hits record deficit.

Economic releases out of the European Union today were highlighted by trade balance figures from two of the EU's biggest economies, Germany and France. The German international trade balance registered a trade surplus of 14.4 billion euros in May down from a revised 18.8 billion euros in April according to data released from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Germany's trade surplus is also below the level of May 2007 which produced a surplus of 17.5 billion euros. Market forecasts had expected a surplus of 17.3 billion euros for the European Union's largest economy in May. Exports fell for the month by 3.2 percent to 80.8 billion euros while imports increased by 0.7 percent to 66.5 billion euros. Compared to May 2007, exports have risen by 2.5 percent while imports have risen by 8.2 percent.

The France trade balance showed a record deficit in the month of May according to a release from the France Customs Office. The France deficit in May increased to 4.74 billion euros following April's revised deficit of 3.74 billion euros. Market forecasts were predicting France's trade deficit to be at 4.0 billion euros. Exports fell in May to 34.7 billion euros from 35.3 billion euros in April while imports rose slightly from 39.0 billion euros in April to 39.45 billion euros in May. Contributing to the increased deficit was a rise in the industrial deficit that reached 2.32 billion euros which was up from a deficit of 1.56 billion euros in April.

Tags: trade balance, germany, france, euro

Blog Home