FRANKFURT, Sept 24 – German business confidence rose for the fifth month in a row in September, data showed on Tuesday, but fell fractionally short of analysts’ expectations for Europe’s biggest economy.
The Ifo economic institute’s closely watched business climate index inched up to 107.7 points this month from 107.6 points in August. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a slightly bigger increase to 108 points.
“The Ifo business climate index rose for the fifth time in succession,” Ifo economist Kai Carstensen said in a statement.
“Although companies assessed their current business situation slightly less favourably, their business expectations were once again more optimistic. The German economy made a confident start to the autumn,” Carstensen said.
Ifo calculates its headline index on the basis of companies’ assessments of their current business and the outlook for the next six months.
The sub-index measuring current business slipped to 111.4 points in September from 112 points in August, while the outlook sub-index rose to 104.2 points from 103.3 points.