BERLIN, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- German business confidence in November reached the highest level since its reunification in 1990, according to key economic data released Wednesday by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research.
% L# }4 w2 \, d6 ~- j' a6 r The Munich-based Ifo institute said its business climate index rose to 109.3 in November from 107.7 in October despite expectations of a slide to 107.5 considering the worsening eurozone debt crisis.
" p* b* m' C5 K1 B6 D' _5 \1 H6 V "Both the current business situation as well as the business outlook for the coming half year have been assessed more positively by the firms. The upswing in the German economy is gaining more and more strength," said Hans-Werner Sinn, president of the Ifo institute. B3 ^% K! [6 b+ H% q/ n
The positive outcome echoed data published Tuesay by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) and GfK." R* [7 ?; Z( F* o
Destatis said the German economy rose 3.9 percent in the third quarter on an annual basis, pushed by both domestic and foreign demand, while domestic consumption accounted for the larger share.
% q0 A6 w6 d j GfK' s index for German consumer confidence reached 5.5 points for December, while the data for November has been raised from previous 4.9 to 5.1.
! A. [/ ?3 e8 u7 X- c9 l. `8 c The Ifo institute publishes its business climate index every month, based on about 7,000 survey responses of firms in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and retailing. |