Eurozone exports grew for the third consecutive month in March giving a ray of hope that the region can emerge out of the recession that has now extended to a record six quarters.
Exports increased at a pace of 2.8 percent in March from the previous month, when it grew only 0.2 percent, data published by Eurostat showed Thursday.
Meanwhile, reflecting the weak domestic demand, imports fell 1 percent after easing 2.2 percent.
A faster growth in exports accompanied by a fall in imports doubled the trade surplus in March. The trade surplus totaled EUR 22.9 billion, up from EUR 10.1 billion in February.
Similarly, Eurozone's trade with countries outside the European Union resulted in a surplus of EUR 15.8 billion compared with EUR 1.7 billion surplus in February and a deficit of EUR 8.2 billion in March 2012.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the euro area trade surplus rose to EUR 18.7 billion from EUR 12.7 billion in February.
According to IHS Global Insight's Chief European economist Howard Archer, an improved Eurozone trade performance in March suggests that net trade made a renewed positive contribution to Eurozone GDP in the first quarter of 2013.
Final data from Eurostat today confirmed that headline inflation slowed to a three-year low of 1.2 percent in April, from 1.7 percent in March. Inflation dropped well below the ECB's target of "below, but close to 2 percent".
Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, slowed to 1 percent from 1.5 percent in March.
The slowdown in inflation amid continuous economic contraction provided room for the central bank to take interest rate to even lower level. Early this month, the ECB has reduced the main refinancing rate by 25 basis points to a new record low 0.50 percent.
The region is undergoing a severe downturn with most of the member nations implementing austerity measures despite unemployment at higher levels.
The economy shrank 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter, but better than a 0.6 percent decline reported in the fourth quarter of 2012. The latest stretch of six straight quarters of contraction has exceeded the 2008-2009 recession and is the longest since the birth of the bloc in the 1990s.
The European Commission forecast the euro area economy to shrink 0.4 percent in 2013, as the region heads into its second year of recession.
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