"Today's Ifo report is "reassuring evidence that the German economy will not be thrown off track again due to the recent rise in oil prices or lingering euro-zone debt crisis risks"
- Timo Klein, senior German economist at IHS Global Insight
German business confidence rose to an eight-month high in March, defying fears that the euro zone's largest economy has slipped into recession. Ifo business climate index, which is based on a survey of 7,000 businesses, rose to 109.8 points from 109.7 points in February.
Today's report is "reassuring evidence that the German economy will not be thrown off track again due to the recent rise in oil prices or lingering euro-zone debt crisis risks," said Timo Klein, senior German economist at IHS Global Insight in Frankfurt. "The odds that the German economy will strengthen continually during the course of 2012 remain quite high." "The Ifo increase was driven by the retail sector, showing that the domestic economy is shielding Germany somewhat from the external turmoil," said Andreas Scheuerle, an economist at Dekabank in Frankfurt. "That will help avert a recession."
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