AFP, Frankfurt :
German economic growth picked up in the second quarter of 2015, and the public finances of Europe’s economic powerhouse were firmly in the black in the first half, data showed on Tuesday.
German gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.4 percent in the period from April to June, up from 0.3 percent in the first quarter, the federal statistics office Destatis said, confirming a flash estimate released earlier this month.
At the same time, Destatis calculated that Germany’s finances were firmly in the black, with the federal, regional, municipal and welfare budgets running up a combined surplus of 21.1 billion euros ($24.4 billion) in the period from January to June.
That is equivalent to 1.4 percent of GDP, Destatis said.
Germany’s public finances “continued to profit from the favourable employment situation and positive growth, as well as moderate spending,” Destatis said.
But the statisticians warned against extrapolating the first-half figures on to the year as a whole, as the budget surpluses tended to be lower in the second half of the year.
