- German Finance Ministry
German factory gate prices contracted for a 25th consecutive month in August on an annualised basis, falling more than market's expectations. According to Destatis, the headline annual PPI in Germany was a negative 1.7% in the reported month, following the 1.3% drop posted in July and missing the estimate of 1.6% decline. On a monthly basis, the gauge fell 0.5% in August after a flat print in the prior month. The reading was predicted to show a negative 0.3% result. Concerning the product categories, in August energy prices decreased by 5.0%, prices of non-durable consumer goods and intermediate goods contracted by more than 1% annually. In contrast, prices of capital goods rose by 0.8% and prices of durable consumer goods climbed by 1.4%. The weak figures from Germany's economic powerhouse only underscore the fragility of economic recovery in the Euro zone.
In the meantime, the Bundesbank said in its Monday's report that undeterred by global uncertainties and economic slowdown in China, German growth is expected to continue in the second half of the year on rising domestic consumption and growing exports. The Buba expects the German economy to expand by 1.7% in 2015, while Berlin predicts that GDP will rise 1.8% this year.
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