The central bank of Germany has forecast that the eurozone-leading economy will continue to grow during the second quarter as industrial activity rebounds from a brief lull at the beginning of the year, according to The Wall Street Journal. On Monday, the Deutsche Bundesbank said it does not expect the economy to be hampered by any further “catch-up effects” during the coming months from harsh winter weather that weighed on activity during December. Additionally, the central bank said that business expectations have been little altered by the disaster in Japan, and the effect of the crisis on the German economy should be limited.
The forecast for continued growth comes on the back of an expectation for a “strong increase of orders” as factories boost output to fill a gap from the beginning of 2011. According to Bloomberg, a separate report from Markit showed that Germany’s purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing added almost a point in April to reach 61.7, while official data showed robust growth for industrial production in the opening months of the year. Economists are forecasting for 2.8% growth in 2011.
Click here to read the story on the German report from The Wall Street Journal.
Click here for additional coverage of manufacturing from Bloomberg News.