In Brief : Near-Record Bonn Trade Surplus
West Germany reported its second-biggest monthly trade surplus on record today, and economists said the United States and others probably will likely renew charges that it is doing too little to correct global trade imbalances.
The Federal Statistics Office said the trade surplus in November, 1988, was 13.1 billion marks ($7.4 billion), nearly 20% higher than the same 1987 month.
The November surplus was second only to the record of 14.2 billion marks ($8.1 billion) seen in June, 1988.
The United States and other nations have pressed both West Germany and Japan to stimulate domestic demand for goods so that they take up the slack as the United States tries to cut its huge trade and budget deficits.
“We will certainly come under pressure internationally,” said Ulrich Hombrecher, German economist at Dusseldorf-based bank Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale.
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