- BNP Paribas
Producer prices in Germany, the largest economy in the single currency area, continued show some weakness during the month of February. The producer price index, which shows a change in price of goods sold by manufacturers, rose by 0.1% last month on a monthly basis, lower than a 0.2% advance estimated by analysts. Still, it was the first increase of the indicator in three months, which follows the negative development of 0.6% and 0.7% in January and December, respectively. Meanwhile, the annual decrease in February reached 2.1%, down from 2.2% a month before. Analysts explain a continuous slump by a sharp fall in energy prices of 5.5%, which weighted on the indicator much more significantly than other components.
In the meantime, Euro zone's current account balance improved considerably in January, showing its second-highest reading ever. A 0.5% growth in exports due to weaker Euro and falling costs of imports by 5.7% resulted in a surplus of 29.4 billion euros for the first month of 2015. This economic indicator is showing particular strength since 2012 when the Euro zone faced a debt crisis and attempted to become more competitive, which eventually resulted in decreased imports and expanded overseas shipments of locally produced goods and services.
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