Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) reacted with concern to the latest sentiment barometer from the ZEW research institute. The economic expectations of financial experts deteriorated significantly more than expected in August. The ZEW barometer fell by 22.6 points to 19.2 points compared to the previous month, according to the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim. According to economists, hopes for an upturn are fading.
“The economic crisis is becoming more and more entrenched at a level of stagnation that cannot satisfy anyone,” said Habeck in Bremen. “And the measures that have been taken so far are not enough to overcome the high interest rates, the lack of demand from abroad, but also the structural problems that we have in Germany.”
What is now needed is the implementation of the traffic light government’s growth package, explained Habeck. This has addressed many “concerns, wishes and complaints of the German economy”. “That is why my urgent advice, my wish and my work is to implement this quickly. That will have an effect.” To what extent further answers can be found with more free trade agreements, with more investments or better depreciation models remains to be seen – perhaps not until the election campaign.
“The economic outlook for Germany is collapsing,” said ZEW President Achim Wambach, commenting on the data. “This suggests that economic expectations continue to be influenced by high levels of uncertainty, driven by unclear monetary policy, disappointing business figures from the US economy and growing concerns about an escalation of the Middle East conflict.”
It was the second decline in economic expectations in a row. The assessment of the current economic situation also worsened in August. Recently, a number of leading indicators for the German economy had deteriorated. In addition, there was turbulence on the financial markets last week. Concerns about the US economy increased.
