ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment: Expectations Almost Unchanged

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany has increased by 1.1 points to a level of 23.4 points in April 2012. Thus, the indicator has risen for the fifth consecutive time.

Compared to the previous month the Indicator of Economic Sentiment is nearly unchanged. This indicates that economic expectations have stabilised. This assessment shows that the financial market experts surveyed by ZEW in general expect a further positive development of the German economy during the next six months.

"The financial market experts maintain their positive outlook for the following six months. However, the sideward movement of the index in April shows that economic optimism suffers from considerable risks such as the economic slowdown of important trading partners, the rise of prices for crude materials and the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone," says ZEW President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz.

The assessment of the current economic situation for Germany has improved slightly in April. The corresponding indicator has increased by 3.1 points to the 40.7 points-mark. Economic expectations for the Eurozone have increased by 2.1 points in April. The respective indicator now stands at 13.1 points. The indicator for the current economic situation in the Eurozone has decreased by 0.6 points and now stands at minus 49.0 points.

For further information please contact

Dr. Christian D. Dick, E-mail dick@zew.de

Frieder Mokinski,Phone +49 (0)621/1235-143, E-mail mokinski@zew.de