Upbeat managers
February 23, 2012
German business confidence hit a seven-month high in February, a key survey by the Munich-based ifo Institute showed on Thursday.
This month's poll among 7,000 managers revealed the fourth consecutive increase in optimism as domestic demand helped inoculate the continent's biggest economy against the specter of the eurozone debt crisis.
The overall business climate index rose to 109.6 points, up from 108.3 points in January. Analysts polled by Dow Jones newswire had expected a more moderate increase to 108.8 points.
"More companies in Germany reported a favorable business situation than in January," ifo President Hans-Werner Sinn confirmed in a statement. "The German economy is currently supported by solid domestic demand," Sinn added.
Realities and perceptions
Ifo calculates its closely watched index on companies' assessments of their current business environments and their outlook for the next six month.
The February sub-index measuring current business climbed to 117.5 points from 116.3 points last month. The outlook sub-index reached 102.3 percent, its highest level since July 2011.
The ifo business confidence survey is Germany's most important barometer for cyclical developments and can look back on a record of reliable forecasts and assessments.
Germany's economy dipped 0.2 percent toward the end of last year – the first decline since the peak of the financial crisis in the early months of 2009. Leading economists expect growth in the country to take another blow in the first quarter of the current year.
The government in Berlin hopes for 0.7-percent growth overall this year, followed by a 1.6-percent increase in 2013.
hg/jrb (dpa, Reuters, AFP)