ZURICH (MaceNews) – The economic outlook in Germany fell in April, declining for the first time since November 2020 on concerns a stricter lockdown will dampen private consumption, according to ZEW.
The Economic Sentiment Index unexpectedly fell in April, down 5.9 points to 70.7, and well below the Econoday median forecast of 77.0 and the prior result of 76.6.
Current conditions improved however, rising 12.2 points to -48.8 and beating the Econoday median of -52.0, and is now around the level of March 2020, according to ZEW.
“The financial market experts are somewhat less euphoric than in the previous month. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment is, however, still at a very high level and the current situation is assessed much more positively than in March. Fears of a stricter lockdown have led to a decline in expectations for private consumption. Nevertheless, the outlook for exports is better than in the previous month,” ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach comments on the current expectations.
The same trend was also seen for the Euro-area, with economic sentiment falling 7.7 points to 66.3 and current conditions improving 4.3 points to -65.5.
The closely watched Ifo sentiment index will be released on April 26 at 10:00 am CET.
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