Sharp decline in the ifo Business Climate for eastern Germany
The ifo Business Climate for eastern Germany fell sharply in February. The business climate index for the economy in the east fell from 102.1 to 100.2 points. The measure of business confidence in eastern Germany has thus continued the downward trend of recent months. The most recent decline is due to the sharp downward corrections of the assessments of the current business situation. Business expectations also declined somewhat.
In eastern German manufacturing, the business climate cooled slightly. The survey participants were clearly more pessimistic regarding the business outlook, although their assessments of the current situation improved somewhat.
Business confidence in the eastern German services weakened noticeably. The firms gave much poorer assessments of the current situation and also revised their business expectations significantly downwards.
In eastern German distribution, the business climate brightened slightly. This was due to the improvement in business expectations for both wholesalers and retailers. Assessments of the current business situation weakened slightly.
In eastern German construction, the business climate index fell slightly. Following on the recent considerable cooling in the business climate, confidence weakened once again. This was mainly due to the continuing downward trend in the assessments of the current situation. Business expectations, however, recovered slightly.
