- European Parliament
German trade surplus rose slightly in October, with imports falling at a sharper rate than exports partly due to a weaker Euro. Overseas shipments dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.5% to 97.2 billion euros in the month under review, while imports declined 3.1% to 76.6 billion euros, according to Destatis. This resulted in a trade surplus of 20.6 billion euros in the world's third biggest exporter. Trade with EU members saw a surplus of 59.7 billion euros, outside of the EU it stood at 44.2 billion euros. The Euro zone partners and the US have been calling for Germany to slash its trade surplus and spur consumer spending. In the meantime, the European Commission has provided France, Italy and Belgium with extra three months to take additional budgetary measures to bring their deficits and debt levels down to conform with the EU rules. After weeks of negotiations the European Union lawmakers and the EU's 28 member countries have agreed on a preliminary 2015 budget deal, on condition that the European Commission prepares a plan to pay off more than 20 billion euros of unpaid bills. The deal, reached on Tuesday morning, averts the necessity for the EU to enter 2015 on emergency funding levels. Thus, the EU bloc is allowed to spend 141.2 billion euros ($179 billion) next year. Meanwhile, most Eurosystem national governors support full-blown QE, ECB Governing Council member Jozef Makuch said. Makuch also added that the final decision would depend on effectiveness of the current stimulus.
© Dukascopy Bank SA