Germany would grow at a slightly slower pace than previously expected, its powerful central bank predicted yesterday, as it cut its forecasts for Europe’s top economy.
France’s central bank also turned more pessimistic on the growth outlook for the eurozone’s second-biggest economy.
The Bundesbank said the powerhouse German economy would expand by 1.7 percent this year, slowing to 1.4 percent next year.
Photo: AFP
This was a downgrade of previous forecasts of 1.8 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.
Nevertheless, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said the German economy stood on a “relatively firm” footing.
The bank added that it expected the economy to expand by 1.8 percent in 2018.
Exports, long the bedrock of the German economy, are only providing a “limited” push, but “should pick up” in coming years, Weidmann predicted.
The latest forecast brings the central bank into line with the German government’s forecast for this year, which is slightly more optimistic than the IMF, with a 1.5 percent growth estimate, and German economics institutes, which expect 1.6 percent.
Inflation is expected to remain subdued this year, the Bundesbank said, with consumer prices rising by just 0.2 percent, accelerating to 1.5 percent next year and 1.7 percent in 2018.
The Bank of France yesterday reiterated its earlier 1.4 percent growth forecast for this year, but trimmed its outlook for next year to 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent earlier.
Growth of 1.6 percent would only be achieved in 2018, it said.
The central bank said the international environment had become “less favorable” for French growth, and also cited expectations of higher oil prices as a negative factor for expansion.
France’s trade deficit, partly explained by a strong euro, was also weighing on GDP, it said.
Limited growth was expected to lead to an equally limited increase in jobs, with employment levels likely to rise by 0.7 this year and 0.6 percent next year, the Bank of France said.
The unemployment rate, a key focus for French President Francois Hollande’s government, would ease to 10.1 percent this year from 10.3 percent last year, the Bank of France predicted.
The unemployment rate would fall below 10 percent only in 2018, it said.
The bank also called on the government to control its deficits with the aim of cutting debt, which stands at 96 percent of GDP, vastly higher than the eurozone’s 60 percent target.
Hollande’s government has promised to reduce the public sector deficit to 3.3 percent this year before bringing it below the eurozone’s 3 percent limit next year, to 2.7 percent.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”