The German economy falters
Long thought immune from the eurozone crisis the German economy has begun to show signs of a slowdown according to German newspapers,the magazine Der Spiegel reports.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/The-German-econ...
Technology giant Siemens reported profits that were well below expectations, along with a severe decline in orders of 23 percent, prompting the company to announce a new cost-cutting program. Steel company ThyssenKrupp announced that it will reduce hours for more than 2,000 workers beginning in August due to slowing orders. BASF, the world's largest chemical company, also saw profits sink by some 16 percent for the second quarter of 2012, reporting that business had also started to stall in China.
Automaker Daimler earned 11 percent less than it did in the same quarter last year, but competitor Volkswagen appears to remain unaffected by the crisis so far thanks to booming business in Asia and the United States.
Others, including stock exchange company Deutsche Börse and national rail provider Deutsche Bahn, also lowered their projections.
In the first quarter of the year the German economy grew by 0.5 percent, but the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has estimated that the second quarter will show weaker growth of some 0.3 percent.
Asia and especially China has been an important source for the growth of German manufacturing so that it has not been totally dependent on the eurozone with its debt mountain. China's exports have slowed recently.
However Germany is nowhere near as weakened by debt as its European neighbours. It does mean however that Germany may be less able to help with bail outs should EU members get into further difficulties.
Automaker Daimler earned 11 percent less than it did in the same quarter last year, but competitor Volkswagen appears to remain unaffected by the crisis so far thanks to booming business in Asia and the United States.
Others, including stock exchange company Deutsche Börse and national rail provider Deutsche Bahn, also lowered their projections.
In the first quarter of the year the German economy grew by 0.5 percent, but the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has estimated that the second quarter will show weaker growth of some 0.3 percent.
Asia and especially China has been an important source for the growth of German manufacturing so that it has not been totally dependent on the eurozone with its debt mountain. China's exports have slowed recently.
However Germany is nowhere near as weakened by debt as its European neighbours. It does mean however that Germany may be less able to help with bail outs should EU members get into further difficulties.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/The-German-econ...