Euro zone current account surplus pressures Germany
Austerity-hit neighbours seen pushing the new government for policies to lift nation's imports
A sharp rise in the euro zone's current account surplus puts the focus firmly on what Germany's new government can do to boost consumption and revive in-vestment in Europe's largest economy.
Stronger domestic demand in Germany would suck in more goods from countries on the southern rim of the euro zone and so help them to keep improving their own external payment positions by expanding exports rather than crushing spending.
The austerity policies pursued by the bloc's weaker economies to reduce unsustainable debts are one reason why the euro zone has swung from a current account deficit of 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product in 2009 to a surplus of 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of July.
But the main reason is Germany, which ran a surplus with non-euro countries last year of €94.93 billion (HK$995 billion), according to Bundesbank data. The surplus for the whole of the currency bloc last year was €122.44 billion.
Germany's overall current account surplus last year was 6.9 per cent of GDP - higher even than the 6 per cent threshold that the European Commission considers excessive.
Martin Wolf, writing in the Financial Times, said Germany's "beggar-my-neighbour policies" were exporting bankruptcy and unemployment and were inconsistent with the euro zone's commitments to the Group of 20 leading economies.