Germany’s economy performed better than expected in the fourth quarter of last year and “more or less” stagnated, according to the Bundesbank, confirming an earlier estimate that fed optimism over the eurozone dodging a winter recession.
“High inflation and uncertainty in view of the war in Ukraine weighed on the economy in the fall quarter, but the situation on energy markets eased noticeably compared to the summer,” the Bundesbank said in its monthly report.
“Moreover, further fiscal measures were taken, some of which relieve private households and companies of high energy costs. Supply bottlenecks in industry and construction also became less relevant,” the Bundesbank said on Monday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Improving confidence has fueled hope that a downturn in Europe’s biggest economy, which seemed inevitable just weeks ago, may be shallow or may not happen at all.
The statistics office reported on Jan. 13 that a contraction may have been avoided in the final quarter of last year.
The Bundesbank predicts a “slightly positive” employment trend in the coming months. That should underpin consumption, even as price pressures remain strong.
A slowdown in inflation to 9.6 percent last month was mainly due to one-off fiscal relief, the Bundesbank said. “It should therefore be temporary.”
While gas and electricity price caps will be reflected in official price statistics from this month, “these should dampen the inflation rate less than the emergency aid in December.”
Last month, the central bank predicted German inflation would average 7.2 percent this year and 4.1 percent next year.
Since then, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has argued that additional measures are needed to curb rising expectations of future prices and return euro-area inflation to the 2 percent goal.
“The fight against inflation must therefore be given top priority in order to ensure that the credibility of monetary policy is maintained,” the Bundesbank said. “Otherwise, the uncertainty of market participants about the development of inflation threatens to translate into an unanchoring of inflation expectations in the medium and long term.”
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS