German business morale still downbeat

German analysts and investors were pessimistic again in July – for the third month running.

A survey by the ZEW think tank shows the eurozone crisis is still hurting business morale in Europe’s largest economy.

But ZEW did say the decline in expectations for the end of this year was flattening out gently.

That could mean they have now gone as low as they will, leading to a stable outlook for the rest of the year.

ZEW President Wolfgang Franz said: “This could possibly be an early sign of an encouraging development in 2013.”

But he added the risks should not be underestimated: “Besides the weak demand from the eurozone for German exports, the German economy is also burdened by weakening growth dynamics in other important partner countries.”

ZEW economist Michael Schroeder said he would not be surprised if Tuesday’s data had hit the bottom line in terms of expectations.

“Our forecast is until year-end and for this year from now on it is more or less stable. From now on the (economic) development should be stable until the year end,” he said.

The German economy put in a relatively strong performance in the first quarter of the year, growing 0.5 percent and saving the euro zone from recession, but recent data painted a mixed picture.

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