Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
🙌 It's Here: the Only Stock Screener You'll Ever Need Get Started
German business morale unfazed by banking turmoil
Published Mar 27, 2023 04:24AM ET
Updated Mar 27, 2023 06:46AM ET
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view shows the logo of the European Central Bank (ECB) outside its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Heiko Becker
BERLIN (Reuters) -German business morale unexpectedly rose in March, adding to signs that Europe's largest economy is stabilizing despite recent turmoil in the banking sector, a survey showed on Monday.
The Ifo institute said its business climate index jumped to 93.3 from a reading of 91.1 in February. A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a March reading of 91.0.
The improvement in business morale for the fifth month in a row was driven primarily by business expectations, which rose to 91.2 in March from a revised 88.4 the month before, its highest level in at least a year, according to Ifo.
The managers at 9,000 companies surveyed by Ifo had not changed their positive sentiment, despite the banking sector turmoil, likely because no German bank has so far been affected, Ifo head of surveys Klaus Wohlrabe told Reuters.
"Despite the turbulence in the financial markets, the German economy is starting spring with a good feeling," he said.
The German government has said the economic situation should improve from spring onwards, and in January revised up its economic forecast for 2023, predicting growth of 0.2%.
Analysts welcomed the unexpected increase but warned against being too optimistic about what it means for the months ahead.
"All in all, the business climate is not yet based on anything more than hope," said economist Alexander Krueger at private bank Hauck Aufhaeuser Lampe, adding: "It still doesn't look like a real upswing for 2023."
The European Central Bank's interest rate hikes since last July are taking effect with a time lag of at least four quarters, which argues against economic recovery in the second half, said Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) chief economist Joerg Kraemer.
Despite calls by some investors to hold back on policy tightening until turmoil in the banking sector eases, the ECB raised its refinancing rate by 50 basis points to 3.50% this month, leaving the door open to future hikes as it forecast inflation would remain above its 2% target through 2025.
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.