BERLIN: German exports should grow by 2.5 per cent next year, the nation‘s key trade association said Thursday but warned that the threat of international crises could turn 2017 into a difficult period for Europe‘s biggest economy. The total value of exports from Germany is likely to grow to 1.23 trillion euros next year, representing a gain of 2.5 per cent compared with about 1.2 trillion euros in 2016, the German Federation of Wholesalers, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) said. Helping to fire up foreign demand for German exports was a weak euro, the BGA said. But releasing the data, BGA chief Anton F Boerner warned that German trade was not immune to international crises after the uncertainties of 2016. He said “next year will not be any easier because some new ones have already been added to the already existing risks for the foreign business sector.”
This, Boerner said, included the risks unleashed by Britain‘s plans to launch negotiations to exit the European Union, the possible political uncertainty in Italy follow this year‘s failed referendum on reform and the threat of another flare up in the euro debt crisis.”On the global stage, there is a danger that the change in US president will result in a U-turn in US economic policy that will further accelerate the rise in protectionism around the world,” said Boerner. “The major task in the new year will be to make it clear to the public that the free exchange of goods and services around the world has more advantages than disadvantages,” he said.
