Switzerland exports plunged 3.7% after advanced 7.3% in January, while the imports rose 2.1% from the previous month, which lower the trade surplus to 0.73 billion Swiss Francs from a revised reading of 1.99 billion in previous month. Meanwhile, the ZEW investor confidence rose slightly to -57.1 from -57.7 in February, marking its fifth consecutive increase as the policy makers continued to step up their effort to stave-off a severe downturn in the economy. Amid the minor improvement in sentiment, economic activity throughout the region is likely to deteriorate further as theg overnment lowered their growth forecasts as they expect the annual rate of growth to contract 2.2% this year, which has fallen considerably from the initial estimate for a 0.8% drop in GDP.
