- Title: German business morale falls on rising COVID cases, bottlenecks
- Date: 25th August 2021
- Summary: MUNICH, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PATRONS IN RESTAURANTS OUTSIDE BERLIN, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION SITE WOLFSBURG, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARS ON PRODUCTION LINE
- Embargoed: 8th September 2021 13:25
- Keywords: Germany Ifo business sentiment index economy hospitality
- Location: MUNICH, BERLIN & WOLFSBURG, GERMANY
- City: MUNICH, BERLIN & WOLFSBURG, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Europe,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA002ERS1IML
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:German business morale fell for the second month running in August, as supply bottlenecks and rising COVID-19 cases drove companies to take a dimmer view of the coming months in Europe's largest economy, a survey showed on Wednesday (August 25).
The Ifo institute said its business climate index came in at 99.4, missing an analyst consensus of 100.4 in a Reuters poll and down from a downwardly revised reading of 100.7 in July.
"The mood in the German economy has clouded over again," Ifo President Clemens Fuest said in a statement. "Supply bottlenecks for intermediate products in manufacturing and worries about rising infection numbers are putting a strain on the economy."
Concerns were growing in the hospitality and tourism sectors in particular, he added.
Data on Tuesday showed the economy grew more than expected in the second quarter as the easing of COVID-19 curbs spurred consumers to dip into record savings piled up during the winter lockdown, and the state pressed on with a huge debt-financed stimulus push.
But with government officials warning of a fourth COVID-19 wave during the autumn, the months ahead look more problematic.
Earlier this month, BMW raised its 2021 profit forecast after strong quarterly results, but said the global semiconductor chip shortage and rising raw materials prices would hurt its performance in the second half of the year.
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