ZCZC
BCN-27
GERMANY-GDP
Germany’s GDP to decline by 0.3 pct in Q3: think tank
BERLIN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) — The German think tank of the Kiel Institute for
the World Economy (IfW) predicted on Friday that German economic output in
the third quarter (Q3) of 2018 would decline by approximately 0.3 percent.
The IfW’s calculations are based on a preliminary estimate recently
published by the European statistical office Eurostat, which include
unpublished data on Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP). Official data of
German GDP will be published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destasis) in
mid-November.
According to the IfW, the decline in economic output in Germany was due to
production losses in the automotive industry caused by the introduction of
the new test standard for exhaust gases and consumption figures for cars —
the worldwide harmonized light-duty vehicles test procedure (WLTP).
“German manufacturers did not complete the new test procedure for all
vehicle types in time and therefore had to reduce production in the third
quarter,” IfW stated. “In addition, transportation problems in inland
shipping as a result of the low water levels of German rivers may have
hampered production in other sectors of the economy, such as the chemical
industry.”
Already at the beginning of August, chemical giant BASF, among others, was
forced to reduce production due to logistical problems caused by low water
levels of the river Rhine. Water levels on Germany’s most important waterway
fell below the historic low of 2003 in October but are starting to rise
again.
“Overall, the weak third quarter should be largely attributable to
extraordinary effects and thus not allow any conclusions about the general
economic situation,” said Stefan Kooths, head of the IfW Forecasting Centre.
“We therefore expect economic output to improve significantly in the final
quarter of the year.”
BSS/XINHUA/HR/40