25 Mar 2015
German Ifo continues upward trend in March - ING
FXStreet (Barcelona) - Carsten Brzeski of ING, reviews the German Ifo data, commenting that the fifth month in a row increase to 107.9 suggests the economy is gaining further momentum.
Key Quotes
“The gradual improvement continues. Germany's most prominent leading indicator, the Ifo index, just increased for the fifth month in a row to 107.9 in March, from 106.8 in February, indicating that the economy has gained further momentum.”
“While the current assessment component improved to 112.0, from 111.3, expectations increased to 103.9, from 102.5 in February.”
“Optimism has returned to the German economy. Strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2014, combined with low energy prices and the weak euro exchange rate have boosted confidence in the economy.”
“However, before getting overly enthusiastic, one should keep in mind that hard data at the beginning of the year were less impressive than soft data. Moreover, today’s Ifo index is still only slightly above its average of the last five years.”
“All in all, it looks as if the ECB and QE enable the German economy to extend its golden cycle without any new reforms. In fact, the economy is like a sailboat which only needs to hoist the sail and lean back to relax. Strong tailwinds could bring the strongest economic performance since 2011.”
Key Quotes
“The gradual improvement continues. Germany's most prominent leading indicator, the Ifo index, just increased for the fifth month in a row to 107.9 in March, from 106.8 in February, indicating that the economy has gained further momentum.”
“While the current assessment component improved to 112.0, from 111.3, expectations increased to 103.9, from 102.5 in February.”
“Optimism has returned to the German economy. Strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2014, combined with low energy prices and the weak euro exchange rate have boosted confidence in the economy.”
“However, before getting overly enthusiastic, one should keep in mind that hard data at the beginning of the year were less impressive than soft data. Moreover, today’s Ifo index is still only slightly above its average of the last five years.”
“All in all, it looks as if the ECB and QE enable the German economy to extend its golden cycle without any new reforms. In fact, the economy is like a sailboat which only needs to hoist the sail and lean back to relax. Strong tailwinds could bring the strongest economic performance since 2011.”