A survey has shown that business confidence in Germany stayed just off an all-time high in May, as the outlook remained rosy.
The widely watched business climate index, calculated each month by the economic research institute Ifo, stood at 108.6 points in May, unchanged from its April reading. The reading was in line with expectations.
Survey participants 'have assessed their current situation slightly less favourably than in April, but see the outlook for the coming six months somewhat more optimistically,' Ifo president Hans-Werner Sinn said.
For its monthly survey, Ifo polls about 7,000 companies about their assessment of current business and their expectations for the next six months.
A breakdown of the data showed that the current sentiment sub-index slipped to 112.5 points in May from 113.1 in April. But the expectations sub-index increased, rising to 104.8 from 104.3.
Growth figures released earlier showed that German growth slowed noticeably in the first three months of 2007 due to a hike in VAT in January and falling exports.
But continued brisk investment activity meant that the slowdown in first-quarter growth was not as sharp as feared, with the overall upward trend still intact, the federal statistics office Destatis said.
GDP grew by 0.5% from the previous quarter, down from 1% in the final quarter of 2006.
