German Business Confidence Further Down
German business confidence in the economy fell for the second month in a row in August.
According to the German research institute Ifo, confidence is weakening, particularly in the hospitality and tourism sectors, possibly because of concerns about the impact of the Delta variant of the coronavirus on the course of business.
But confidence in the industry also declined due to the expectation that demand will weaken in the coming months.
The problems in the global supply chain also play a role here. In the German retail trade, business confidence is also under pressure.
The Ifo index, which measures confidence, stood at 99.4 for August against 100.7 in July. That is still the highest level since April 2019. After a sharp drop last year due to the pandemic, the indicator has risen sharply since then.
