German trade surplus narrows in June

Germany's trade surplus narrowed in June, as imports grew more than exports, official data showed on Tuesday.

Adjusted for calendar and seasonal swings, German exports increased by 0.3 percent in June, while imports rose by 1 percent, said German federal statistics office Destatis.

Trade surplus, the balance between exports and imports, narrowed to 21.7 billion euros (24.08 billion U.S. dollars) from 22.1 billion euros in the previous month.

It was the latest figure which suggested a subdued growth in the second quarter. Germany's industrial production declined by 1 percent during the period from April to June, and factory orders also dropped by 0.5 percent quarterly.

The German economy grew by 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2016, mainly thanks to buoyant private consumption, government spending on refugees and construction investment.

Economists and the German central bank expected the economic growth to have slowed down in the second quarter, but rebound in coming months.

Source : XINHUA