- Carsten Brzeski, ING
For the previous month, Germany's trade balance advanced unexpectedly. According to the Federal Statistics office, Germany recorded a headline of 25.6bn euros for April from 21.8bn euros in April 2015. The seasonally-adjusted surplus increased to 24bn euros from a revised 23.7bn euros in May, compared with an expected decline for the month. Moreover, the adjusted surplus was at a record high and will resume supporting the single European currency. The overall German current account surplus expanded to 93.9 billion euros for the first quarter of 2016 from 79.8 billion euros the previous year despite a slight widening in the services deficit.
Meanwhile, analysts had expected Germany's trade balance to plunge to 23bn euros last month. Meanwhile, German exports went up by 3.8% in April compared to the same month a year ago, while imports remained nearly unchanged and as a result have led to a wider trade balance for Europe's most powerful economy.
Overall, German exporters have strong global position on competitiveness grounds, which will continue to underpin the trade surplus in the short term. Moreover, the surplus will also make it challenging for the ECB to push the Euro substantially weaker even taking into account the quantitative easing programme.
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