German economy dodges recession

In the final quarter of 2018, the German economy stalled, narrowly dodging recession because the fallout from global trade clashes and Brexit threatened to heavily impact a decade-long expansion in the EU’s number one economy.

GDP in Europe's leading economy was intact for the quarter, as the Federal Statistics Office informed on Thursday. By the way, a Reuters survey had foreseen a 0.1% leap.

German businesses are grappling with a decelerating global economy as well as trade clashes triggered by American leader. Moreover, there’s a high probability that the United Kingdom will abandon the European bloc in March on the terms of its withdrawal without an agreement.

With surge intact in the fourth quarter, the German economy dodged recession in the form of two or more consecutive quarters of contraction having dived by 0.2% in the third quarter.

The German economy rallied at its weakest tempo for five years last year. Surge is anticipated to dive further to 1% in 2019, and Germany experiences a budget shortfall of nearly 25 billion euros by 2023.

The fallout from the trade disputes as well as fears about Brexit are putting pressure on business confidence that keep slipping for the fifth month in a row.

Morale is also being suppressed by weaker demand for German services and goods in the euro zone, China as well as emerging markets.

Moreover, the German cabinet is concerned that technological innovation along with the acquisition of German industrial know-how by foreign, especially Chinese businesses could affect the manufacturing base on which much of Germany's prosperity is based.

The previous week, Peter Altmaier, the country’s Economy Minister told that the cabinet might take stakes in major domestic companies to avert foreign takeovers. From his point of view, such a move is required to safeguard the country’s prosperity.