BERLIN: At least 2% fall in imports and 1% rise in exports caused a surplus in euro zone.
Euro zone’s trade surplus with the rest of the world widened in December for the fifth month in a row, official figures showed Monday, as a cheaper euro continued to boost exports and lower oil prices put a lid on imports.
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The difference between the value of goods the euro zone sells and what it buys abroad widened to 24.3 billion euros ($37.4 billion) on the month, compared with EUR21.2 billion in November, according to Eurostat–the European Union’s official statistics agency.
A weaker euro bolstered exports in the 18 countries that shared the single currency in 2014–Lithuania joined the euro zone only in January 2015–because it made their goods cheaper abroad. In 2014 overall, the trade surplus widened EUR194.8 billion compared with EUR152.3 billion in 2013, due to a 2% rise in exports and flat growth in imports, Eurostat said.
Weak imports are in part the symptom of a stagnating economy, but analysts underscore that the ultra-low price of oil in the international markets also played a part in reducing import values.
While the drop in imports could suggest that euro-zone domestic demand remains limited, it is evident that euro-zone import values are being limited appreciably by lower oil and commodity prices,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.
