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Mechanical engineering in Bad Berka: The crisis drags on
Photo: Z5533 Hendrik Schmidt / dpa
The mood among companies in Germany brightened surprisingly significantly in March despite the third corona wave.
The Ifo business climate index rose to 96.6 points from 92.7 points in February and thus to the highest value since June 2019, as the Munich economic research institute announced on Friday for its survey of 9,000 managers.
Economists polled by Reuters had only expected an increase to 93.2 points.
"Despite the increasing number of infections, the German economy is starting the spring with confidence," said Ifo President Clemens Fuest.
The managers assessed the business outlook for the next six months and the situation more favorably than recently.
The Ifo Institute only lowered its growth forecast for the German economy this week due to ongoing lockdowns, for example for the hospitality industry.
The gross domestic product is only likely to grow by 3.7 percent this year and not by 4.2 percent as expected in December.
"The corona crisis is dragging on and postponing the expected strong upswing," said Ifo economic chief Timo Wollmershäuser.
For 2022, the institute increased its forecast from 2.5 to 3.2 percent.
In 2020, the German economy collapsed by 4.9 percent.
mik / Reuters