BERLIN, Sept 17 (Askume) – Investor sentiment in Germany was more gloomy than expected in September as assessments of the economic situation continued to drift downwards, the ZEW economic institute said on Tuesday.
The economic sentiment index fell to 3.6 points from 19.2 points in August. Analysts polled by Askume pointed to a value of 17.0.
“Hopes for a rapid improvement in the economic situation are clearly fading away,” said ZEW President Achim Wambach.
Hoch Aufheuser Lampe chief economist Alexander Krueger said expectations have been dampened as there is no light at the end of the tunnel. “The overall trend of lower growth estimates is likely to continue,” he said.
The assessment of Germany’s economic situation also continued to worsen, with the indicator falling from -77.3 to -84.5, the lowest since May 2020.
“A sobering assessment of the situation points to another quarter of declining growth,” Kruger said.
Germany’s economy shrank in the second quarter , raising fears of another recession characterized by two consecutive quarters of contraction.
Thomas Geisser, chief economist at VP Bank, said: “As winter approaches, the German economy also appears to be entering hibernation.”
“The German economy will be stuck in a triangle between stagnation, modest growth and slight GDP contraction in the coming quarters.”
