Outlook for periphery’s exporters is improving

The depreciation of the euro over the past year or so appears to be finally starting to help euro-zone exporters. The latest data show that annual growth in euro-zone export values picked up to 7.3% in March, the fastest pace since late 2012. The improvement in the external sector is currently broad-based – while German exporters continue to fare best, those in Spain and Italy are not far behind. Perhaps rather surprisingly, PMI data suggest that the outlook is much more positive for exporters in Spain and Italy than for their supposedly more competitive German counterparts. While the Spanish manufacturing export orders PMI rose in May to its highest level in four-and-a-half years, Germany’s remains close to the 50 no-change level.