--German March prov trade surplus 17.2 bln DM vs 12.6 bln in Feb
--German March prov current acct 2.9 bln DM vs 2.7 bln in Feb
--German Jan-Mar trade surplus at 38.6 bln DM vs 30.8 in 2000
--German Jan-Mar current acct -4.7 bln DM vs -0.9 in 2000

Frankfurt, May 10 (BridgeNews) - Germany's trade surplus in March reached a provisional 17.2 billion Deutsche marks, compared with a revised 12.6-billion-mark surplus in February, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said Thursday. The German March current account surplus measured 2.9-billion marks, compared with a revised 2.7-billion-mark surplus in February.
* * * BridgeNews and Bridge Fokus Deutschland survey among analysts predicted a 9.9-billion-mark trade surplus and a 6.3-billion-mark current account surplus.
German exports in March were 7.5% higher than a year ago, totaling 109.6 billion marks (56.0 billion euros), while imports grew 2.1% on the year to 92.4 billion marks (47.2 billion euros).
Around 55% of all German trade in March was with countries of the European Union, with exports expanding 3.8% and imports growing 0.7% compared with March 2000.
In the first three months of this year, German exports amounted to 312.4 billion marks (159.7 billion euros) and were 13.6% higher than for the same period a year ago. Imports in January-March grew 12.1% on the year to 273.8 billion marks (140.0 billion euros).
Germany's trade balance for the first three months of 2001 closed with 38.6 billion marks surplus, while current account closed with a deficit of 4.7 billion marks.
The Statistics Office provided the following detail on German trade and current account for March and cumulative data for 2001 (figures in billions of marks):

Mar Jan-Mar Feb Mar 00 Jan-Mar 00
Exports 109.6 312.4 101.6 102.0 275.0
Imports 92.4 273.8 89.0 90.5 244.2
Trade balance 17.2 38.6 12.6 11.5 30.8
Current account 2.9 -4.7 2.7 9.7 -0.9

The following table shows annual percentage changes:
Mar Jan-Mar
Exports 7.5 13.6
Imports 2.1 12.1