Preliminary data that showed the German economy grew much more than expected in the first quarter probably overstated, the Bundesbank said today.
The Federal Statistics Office last week reported GDP increased a real, seasonal- and calendar-adjusted 1.0 per cent from the previous three-month period, the largest gain since the first quarter of 2001.
"There is some evidence to suggest that both the decline (in GDP) in the fourth quarter and the recovery in the (first quarter) were somewhat overstated," the German central bank said in its monthly report for May.
"But even if you take into account these potential statistical inaccuracies, there was still significant growth in the first quarter," it added.
The problem with the adjustment stemmed from the fact there was an unusually large number of working days in the final quarter of 2004 and a relatively small number in the first three months of 2005 due to Easter falling in March, the bank said.
If the fourth quarter of last year and the first three months of this year were taken together to smooth out the statistical inaccuracy, GDP increased by 0.4 per cent compared with the previous two quarters, the report said.