Israeli economy in recession: official data

JERUSALEM, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) announced Sunday that the country is officially in a recession.

According to CBS's data, Israel's gross domestic product fell by 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009, following a 0.5 percent drop in the last three months of 2008. The formal definition of a recession is two consecutive months of negative economic growth.

Israeli business sector revenue fell at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009, following a 1.6 percent drop in the last quarter of 2008 and a 1-percent rise in the third quarter of 2008, the data showed.

Imports of goods and services dropped 21.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009, while exports decreased by 14.4 percent, the date said.

Per capita expenditure was down 6 percent in the first three months of 2009 and investment in the Israeli economy decreased by 7.8 percent during the same period, according to the data.

Despite the recession, apartment prices in the Jewish country rose by 4.9 percent in the first quarter of 2009 as the positive trend in the real estate market continued.

Treasury: New Zealand's recession deepens

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Report: Global Financial Crisis

WELLINGTON, May 5 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's Treasury predicted on Tuesday
that the country's recession deepened in the first quarter.

In its monthly update, the Treasury forecast that the Gross Domestic
Product shrank 1 percent in the first quarter, a sharper decline than any of the
four quarters of the recession to date.

The Treasury said data over the past month indicated that demand and output
contracted further in the first quarter.

It attributed the weakness to falls in household spending, business
investment and exports.

Growth estimates for New Zealand's trading partners are now well below
those contained in a previous update in December.

Official figures on the state of the economy in the first quarter are due
to be issued at the end of June.

The government's Budget report will be presented on May 28.

German exports suffer in February amid world recession

BERLIN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Data released on Wednesday showed German exports in February 2009 continued a falling trend, which were 23.1 percent lower than the same period in 2008, as the world is witnessing a worsening economic recession.

Germany exported commodities worth 64.8 billion euros (85.4 billion U.S. dollars) and imported commodities worth 56.2 billion euros in February 2009, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Wednesday.

Exports were 23.1 percent and imports 16.4 percent below the respective February 2008 levels, Destatis said. Compared with January 2009, exports decreased by 0.7 percent and imports by 4.2 percent.

"The figures show that Germany is suffering particularly under the collapse in global demand," the German news agency DPA quoted a statement from Commerzbank as saying.

The surplus of trade in February also suffered a great loss compared with February 2008, said Destatis. The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of 8.9 billion euros in February 2009, while in February 2008, the surplus amounted to 17.1 billion euros.

Analysts predict that more bad news will come in the future. A study published by Unicredit group said German exports were likely to drop further in the next few months, as the demand has been seriously hurt by the worldwide recession.