Investor confidence in Germany has dropped in April, according to the German economic research institute ZEW, going against the forecast. This decline is attributed to the expectation of tightening credit conditions in the coming months, as reflected by the index of economic sentiment, which fell to 4.1 in April from 13.0 in March. This is significantly lower than the expected figure of 15.3 for April.
“The ZEW Economic Confidence Index has declined markedly and indicates that the economic situation in Germany will remain unchanged over the next six months,” said ZEW President Achim Wambach, expressing concern about the state of the German economy.
However, there was some positive news as the assessment of the current economic situation in Germany improved significantly. The index for the economic situation rose to -32.5 in April from -46.5 in March, beating analysts’ expectations of -40.0. This indicates that while the economic sentiment has declined, the current economic situation in Germany has improved.
