The German central bank yesterday upgraded its growth forecasts for this year and next year, saying activity in Europe’s biggest economy was being supported by both domestic and foreign demand.
The Bundesbank said in a statement it was expecting German GDP to expand 1.7 percent this year, 1.8 percent next year and 1.5 percent in 2017. Previously, the central bank had estimated growth of 1 percent for this year and 1.6 percent for next year.
“The German economy has recovered from the lull in mid-2014 more quickly than expected and has returned to a path of growth that is supported by both internal and external demand,” the Bundesbank said.
On Wednesday, provisional official data showed a 1.4 percent month-on-month increase in German industrial orders, beating analysts’ expectations and following an increase of 1.1 percent in March.
The increase was attributable entirely to foreign demand for German-made goods, as domestic orders fell 3.8 percent while export orders jumped 5.5 percent.
“Despite the current weakness in domestic orders, the overall trend remains upwards. Additional impulses can be expected from the recovering economy in the euro area,” the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy said.
The Bundesbank said the domestic economy is reaping the benefits of the favorable labor market situation and substantial income growth.
“This is having an effect on private consumption as well as on housing construction,” it wrote.
“Foreign business is currently burdened by dampening effects emanating from the global economy, but this is balanced out by the depreciation of the euro and the improving economic recovery in the euro area.
In addition, the global economy is likely to pick up steam again in the near future,” the Bundesbank said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last