Fewer Corporate Bankruptcies in Germany

The Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden on Monday reported a dip in corporate bankruptcies in Germany for April, following a similar downward trend for January and February. The statisticians expect around 20,000 corporate bankruptcies in the first six months of 2004, roughly equal to the number registered for the same period last year. The break-even figures mark an end to the wave of record insolvencies that have plagued German companies since 1999. However, the office registered a rise in personal bankruptcies in April to 3,552, up by 29.9 percent. Between January and April 2004, authorities recorded 37,692 personal bankruptcies, up by 13.8 percent as compared to the same period last year.