Number of German company bankruptcies falls further in H1

[BERLIN] The number of German companies filing for insolvency fell further in the first half of the year after reaching a record low in 2015, as Europe's biggest economy enjoys a prolonged upswing, data showed on Wednesday.

The number of companies registering as insolvent fell by 5 per cent to some 11,000 compared to the first six months in the previous year, the Federal Statistics Office said.

The sum of probable claims by creditors of insolvent firms nearly doubled to 16.5 billion euros (S$25.29 billion), however, because there were several big companies among the overall fewer firms that filed for insolvency, the office said.

The number of personal bankruptcies also declined, going down roughly 3 per cent to 39,228.

The German economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter and by 0.4 per cent in the second, mainly driven by strong private consumption and higher state spending.

The government expects robust domestic demand, fuelled by solid wage increases, nearly stable prices and record high employment, to drive an overall economic expansion of 1.7 per cent this year.

Leading economic institutes are a bit more optimistic with a predicted growth rate of 1.9 per cent this year which would be the strongest in five years.

REUTERS