BERLIN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment in Germany plummeted 93.6 points month-on-month to minus 39.3 points in March, the latest data released on Tuesday showed.
According to the monthly expert survey published by the Leibniz Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), this was the biggest drop since the survey began in December 1991. By comparison, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the indicator only dropped by 58.2 points.
The Center's assessment of the current economic situation in Germany also worsened, as the corresponding ZEW indicator dropped 13.3 points to minus 21.4 points. The experts surveyed expected that a slowdown in economic development would already be noticeable in March.
"A recession is becoming more and more likely," said ZEW president Achim Wambach, adding the Russia-Ukraine crisis and related sanctions are "significantly dampening the economic outlook for Germany."
With rising inflation expectations, the coming months are likely to be characterized by stagflation, he added.
"The worsened outlook affects practically all sectors of the German economy, but especially the energy-intensive sectors and the financial sector," Wambach said.
Financial market experts' expectations of economic development in the eurozone dropped by 87.3 points to minus 38.7 points in March. Meanwhile, the current situation indicator decreased by 22.5 points compared to February, to minus 21.9 points.
Inflation expectations for the eurozone were up by 104.6 points, reaching 69.5 points, according to ZEW. 76.5 percent of experts surveyed expect the inflation rate to rise over the next six months. ■