Germany in ‘sensational’ form

Germany's strong growth in the first quarter of 2008 is confounding analysts…

Figures from Germany's Federal Statistics Office (FSO) showed the economy grew at its fastest pace in more than 10 years during the first three months of 2008.

GDP grew 1.5% in the quarter, almost double the figure that analysts had forecast, and up from 0.3% in the final three months of 2007.

Commerzbank economist Matthias Rubisch enthused: “Germany's growth - its fastest pace since 1996 – is sensational. The forecasts for this full year will have to be revised upwards after this strong start.

“The government had forecast that 2008 growth would be 1.7% but this could now be above 2%, compared with 2.5% growth in 2007.

A spokesperson for FSO added: These figures show that the economy is robust despite wider economic problems”.