Germany’s Aug economic outlook down on US economy, Mideast concerns

LONDON (ICIS)–Sentiment for Germany’s economic outlook fell sharply in August on concerns over the US economy and the protracted conflict in the Middle East.

A monthly survey of analysts and investors carried out by the Germany-headquartered think tank ZEW saw its indicator of economic sentiment fall to 19.2 points.

The drop marked a decrease of 22.6 points from July. It was also the strongest decline in two years.

An assessment of the current economic situation in Germany also saw a drop in its reading, with the corresponding indicator still in negative territory and down by 8.4 points to -77.3 points.

“It is likely that economic expectations are still affected by high uncertainty, which is driven by ambiguous monetary policy, disappointing business data from the US economy and growing concerns over an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East,” ZEW president Achim Wambach said in a statement.

The economic outlook for the eurozone also fell to 17.9 points, a drop of 25.8 points from July.

While the current situation indicator for the eurozone was assessed slightly higher by 3.7 points, it was still in negative territory at -32.4 points.

Thumbnail photo: Dortmund port, Germany (Source: Christopher Neundorf
/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)