Overall Economic Development

Overall economic development was also directed towards growth in the third quarter 2011. This applied in particular to Asia. The strongest boosts came from China. In Japan the economy is slowly recovering from the effects of the natural catastrophe. In the USA the recovery is slowing down. In Europe the economic cycle is subdued. Germany’s growth was above average in a European comparison. According to provisional calculations of the German Economic Research Institute (DIW), gross domestic product increased by 0.4% compared to the previous quarter. Overall economic development may be adversely affected by the worldwide debt crisis.

The US dollar, the Chinese renminbi and the Japanese yen are of particular importance for GILDEMEISTER’s international business. In the third quarter, the exchange rate of the currencies most important for us changed as follows: The average value of the euro against the US dollar was 0.71 euros (previous quarter: 0.69 euros). Against the Chinese renminbi, the euro was 9.07 renminbi (previous quarter: 9.35 renminbi). The average value of the euro against the yen was 109.77 yen (previous quarter: 117.41 yen). Thus the US dollar, the renminbi and the Japanese yen gained in value against the euro. The US dollar gained about 1.9%, the renminbi about 3.2% and the Japanese Yen about 7%. This gave our products an advantage in China, in the USA and in the markets dependent upon the dollar.

Sources:
German Economic Research Institute (DIW), Berlin
Economic Research Institute (ifo), Munich
Institute for World Economics (IfW), Kiel

chart: exchange rate movements euro in relation to US dollar, yen and yuan