(MENAFN) A less than expected rise in German exports as foreign industry orders fell, signing that domestic demand, instead of trading activity, will lead to a modest growth in Europe's leading economy this year, The Peninsula Qatar reported.
Sales of goods and services abroad gained just one percent, prompting a German trade group to slash its forecast for full-year export growth. "We can't achieve three percent growth anymore. We now expect ... growth of less than one percent," said the president of the BGA trade association in a statement, marking weakness in a slew of foreign markets.
Exports have been the most important issue for the German economy in recent decades, but the news strengthened expectations that domestic demand, rather than trade, will lead to growth this year, helped by a strong labor market, solid wage hikes and favorable financing conditions.
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