Just two days before U.K. voters cast their ballots in a contest between those who want the country to remain in the European Union and those who want the country to leave (Brexit), the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) has released its economic sentiment index for Germany.
The Germans, apparently, are not terribly concerned with the outcome of the British vote because the index gained 12.8 points month over month and now stands at 19.2. The long-term average is 24.4.
The current conditions indicator improved slightly, rising by 1.4 points to 54.5, and the index measuring economic sentiment for the entire eurozone rose by 3.4 points to 20.2, although the current conditions index for the eurozone fell by 0.8 points to a value of −10.
The big increase in the June reading for Germany defied economists’ expectations for a decrease of 4.8 points. The May index reading was 6.4 points.
Achim Wambach, president of ZEW, said:
The improvement of economic sentiment indicates that the financial market experts have confidence in the resilience of the German economy. However, general economic conditions remain challenging. Apart from the weak global economic dynamics, it is mainly the EU referendum in Great Britain which causes uncertainty.
The Ifo business climate index for Germany is due out on Friday, and it is expected to drop from 107.7 in May to 107.5 in June.
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