- GfK
Consumer sentiment in the largest economy of the Euro zone plunged in September of this year, as Germans became more concerned about possible negative impact from Russia's sanctions. The respective indicator from the GfK Institute slowed down to 8.6 points after a revised 8.9 mark a month before. Meanwhile, the gauge still hovers around the highest point since the middle of the year 2007. Analysts hoped that domestic consumption in Germany would offset the decline of net exports. The economic growth in the country turned to be negative in the second quarter, as GDP lost 0.6% on the annual basis and 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, while net exports has always been on the strong side of the German economy. The confidence level is expected to deteriorate even more in the nearest future amid escalating political tensions between Ukraine and Russia. However, GfK experts underline that changes in global political landscape and the world economy had little impact on the EU's biggest economy so far.
At the same time, Presidents of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, together with EU representatives met yesterday in Minsk to discuss possible decisions in order to de-escalate the conflict in the Eastern Ukraine, which can potentially weigh on easing Russian economic sanctions on the EU and other regions, while most of these countries still extremely depend on trade with partners from the East.
© Dukascopy Bank SA