The mood among companies in Germany has brightened slightly in April

The mood among companies in Germany has brightened slightly despite the third corona wave in April. The Ifo business climate index climbed to its highest value since June 2019, but the minimal increase of 0.2 to 96.8 points was surprisingly small, as the Munich economic research institute announced in its survey of 9,000 managers. It is also the third increase in a row - which experts consider to be an economic trend reversal. Economists polled by Reuters had, however, even expected 97.8 points. "The third wave of infections and bottlenecks in preliminary products are dampening the recovery of the German economy," said Ifo President Clemens Fuest. The managers assessed their situation more favorably than before, but were more skeptical about the business outlook for the next six months. Things are still going very well for the industry, but optimistic expectations have been dampened. "45 percent of the companies reported bottlenecks in preliminary products - that is the highest figure since 1991," emphasized Fuest. In the manufacturing sector, however, the business climate improved to its highest level since May 2018. Capacity utilization increased significantly to 86.2 percent and is thus above the long-term average for the first time in almost two years. The industry is booming, but the bottlenecks in intermediate products such as semiconductors are the downside, said Ifo economic expert Klaus Wohlrabe. "There is sand in the gears when it comes to procurement, across almost all industries." The upswing continues, but at a slower pace. "Despite the good mood, the economy will continue to sag, also because of supply chain problems," said Bankhaus Lampe's chief economist, Alexander Krüger. "Rapid global vaccination successes remain decisive for the economic outlook."