German business confidence at six-month high
January 26, 2015
German business confidence hit a six-month high in January, Germany's economic institute Ifo said on Monday, amid falling oil prices and the European Central Bank's new stimulus package to shore up the eurozone economy.
Ifo's business climate index rose to 106.7 this month, compared to 105.5 points in December, Ifo said in a statement.
This month's figure is also the third successive increase, according to Ifo, one of Germany's leading economic institutes.
"Companies were far more satisfied with their current business situation and the majority were also optimistic about the business outlook," Ifo President Hans-Werner Sinn said. "The German economy has got off to a good start to the year."
Ifo calculates its flagship index on the basis of the assessments of current business and the outlook for the next six months of around 7,000 companies based in Germany.
The sub-index measuring current business rose to 111.7 points, the highest level since July 2014, and the outlook sub-index increased by 0.7 point to 102.0 points, the institute said.
el/ng (dpa, AFP, Reuters)