Mild weather sets German economy off to good start - Bundesbank
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A warm winter will give Germany's economy a strong lift in the first three months of the year, the country's central bank said on Monday, sending a further encouraging signal that Europe is emerging from recession.
Germany is Europe's biggest economy, dominating the group of 18 countries in the euro zone, and the Bundesbank's prediction will influence thinking at the European Central Bank ahead of its monetary policy meeting on April 3.
"For the first quarter of 2014, all signs in Germany point to a considerable strengthening of the tempo of economic expansion," the Bundesbank said in its monthly report.
Germany's central bank said that expectations that industrial production would thrive in January had been fulfilled and that it expected a "very strong" growth in economic output in the first three months of the year.
The mild weather had in particular given a lift to construction.
The news comes as the general outlook for the region improves.
A string of euro zone manufacturing indicators will also give a sense of the bloc's recovery.
Low inflation, however, complicate the picture for ECB President Mario Draghi.
Draghi is due to speak in Paris on Tuesday, having recently stressed the message that the ECB will stick to its generous stance for a long time, well into the recovery, not raising rates even if inflation picks up.
(Reporting By John O'Donnell)
