German GDP Data Showed Surprisingly Negative Signals: Finance Minister

German gross domestic product data for the first quarter showed "surprisingly negative signals," Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Thursday.

Europe's biggest economy contracted in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the previous three months, thereby entering recession, data from the statistics office showed earlier, according to a Reuters report.

"Weak economic dynamics are a task for politicians," he said at an event of the German Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, added the Reuters report.
The latest sign of weakness out of Europe came from Germany, where the economy contracted slightly in the first quarter, and thereby was in recession after negative growth in the fourth quarter of 2022, stated the Reuters report.

Euro dropped on Thursday as Europe's largest economy Germany was confirmed to be in a recession, while the dollar hit a two-month peak, benefitting from safe-haven demand as worries mounted about a US default, stated the Reuters report.

"We have seen some divergent cross-Atlantic macro data this week and while Germany is not the euro, the momentum in the economy is stunningly weak," Stefan Mellin, senior analyst at Danske Bank said, also noting this week's Ifo and PMI data.