German business morale shows its worst reading for more than a year

In June, German business confidence slipped to its lowest value for more than a year, thus dropping a hint that the mood among company executives in the EU’s number one economy is worsening as the world is getting closer to a full-fledged trade conflict.

Activity in all four sectors gauged by the Munich-based Ifo institute in the survey conducted on Monday - services, trade, manufacturing as well as construction – headed south, contributing to signs the German economy is currently speeding down after the previous year’s boom.

Ifo told that its business climate index slipped to about 101.8, which is the lowest outcome since May last year. The given outcome was a bit firmer than anticipated in a Reuters consensus estimate of 101.7.

However, market experts excluded an economic downtime. Additionally, they forecast the German economy would keep soaring although at a slower tempo than the previous year’s outcome of 2.5%.

The mild dive reaffirms expert’s narrative of the German economy speeding down to a normal surge level. However, it shouldn’t be regarded as a downturn or recession.

Much of the German data released in 2018 has pointed to the fact that the German economy is speeding down.

Industrial activity as well as exports happened to be dismal in the first four months. Additionally, American leader Donald Trump is currently threatening to put huge duties on car imports from the European Union - a trade that Germany has always dominated.

Moreover, German business leaders are also concerned by the fact that a parallel trade feud between Beijing and Washington could harm exporters, traditionally relying on the world's two leading economies for surge.

Some market experts point out the economic boom has already stopped and Germany’s economy is demonstrating signs of normalization.

germany europe economy