A survey has shown that business confidence in Germany slipped again in February, receding further from a 16-year high point in December, as companies become less optimistic about their situation and the outlook for the next six months.
The widely watched business climate index is calculated each month by the Munich-based economic research institute Ifo. It fell to 107 points in February from 107.9 points in January.
The decline was bigger than expected. Consensus forecasts seen the index falling to only 107.6 points this month.
'Retailers are seeing a substantial weakening in business, but expect things to pick up again in the next half year,' said Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn. He added that it seemed that a three-point increase in VAT would have only a temporary effect.
'However, companies outside the retail sector are not as confident about the coming months as they were before,' he added.
A breakdown of the data showed that the current sentiment sub-index fell to 111.6 in February from 112.8 in January. The expectations sub-index also decreased, falling to 102.6 from 103.2.
