A closely watched survey has shown confidence among business owners in Europe’s largest economy rising in July. The unexpected uptick was largely attributed to worries over Greece’s debt crisis subsiding.
German managers’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months have both improved, a survey by the Munich-based Ifo think tank showed Monday, DW reported.
The carefully watched barometer rose to 108 points in July from 107.5 points in June. Economists had expected a slight decline to 107.2 points.
“The preliminary easing of the Greece question has contributed to the improved sentiment in the German economy,” Ifo President Hans-Werner Sinn said in a statement.
“Companies’ assessments of the situation improved significantly after a damper the previous month,” Sinn added. “The business prospects too were somewhat more optimistic after three consecutive declines.”
After months of crisis talks and fears Greece would crash out of the eurozone, European finance ministers and the Greek government have agreed to resume talks for a third EU-IMF bailout.
The Ifo institute polls several thousand managers each month on their assessment of the economy.
Uncertainty over the Greek debt crisis has begun to weigh on German consumer sentiment, a monthly survey by GfK research group (Society for Consumer Research) showed. A relevant indicator dropped for the first time since October.
The GfK market research group reported Thursday that its forward-looking Consumer Climate Index slipped for the month of July, falling 0.1 points to 10.1 points–its first drop since October 2014.
GfK attributed the decline to “unsuccessful efforts” to resolve the Greek debt crisis which appeared to be “dampening the economic outlook for consumers.”
“The battle to resolve the Greek debt crisis is escalating and it is looking ever more likely that the country will default,” GfK warned in its survey for July.