Further comments by Germany's economy minister, Peter Altmaier, after the Q1 GDP report earlier today
- Domestic demand was strong in Q1
- Recovery will only be sustainable if external environment improves
- Indicators point to subdued development of exports in the coming months
A more realistic take on the situation there by Altmaier but then again, there is no point hiding now considering that the German economy is sitting on the edge of a cliff still.
The Q1 preliminary GDP report earlier hints at domestic demand as well as construction investment helping to continue to bolster the economy, while the likes of imports, exports and industrial activity continues to be rather subdued.
Given that auto tariffs are set to come about and US-China trade tensions are still ongoing, expect that to continue to be the case for Germany this year. Should domestic demand falter in the coming quarters, expect the German economy to fall flat once again as we saw towards the end of last year.
