"This rounds off another disappointing quarter for the Eurozone economy. We are expecting GDP, if in-line with these numbers, will contract by 0.2 per cent which is similar to what we saw in the opening quarter"
- Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit
The Eurozone current account surplus rose more than expected in the middle of spring, surpassing analysts' expectations of a 14.2 billion euros surplus by more than 5 billion, boosted by trade with goods. The European Central Bank said on Friday that the seasonally adjusted current account of the EU reached a surplus of 19.5 billion, down from a figure of 25.9 billion in the preceding month. Data also showed that the difference between exported and imported goods stood at extra 18.1 billion euros, while trade with services saw an excess of 8.2 billion euros.
While latest data is suggesting strong export of some Eurozone states, they also point to the repressive effect of unpopular austerity measures that not only does not help to stabilize the region's economy, but led to the 18 months of contraction and had a negative effect on people's demand and willingness to increase spending. Earlier this month survey by the European Union's official statistics office Eurostat showed that the Eurozone retail sales dropped 0.5% on the month and tumbled 1.1% from a year earlier. During the 12 months ending in April, the region's current account surplus accounted around 1.8% of economic output, compared with 0.4% in the preceding year.
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