FRANKFURT, June 26 (Xinhua) -- A survey published on Monday indicated that German companies have turned more pessimistic about the future.
The ifo Business Climate index, which is based on some 9,000 responses from businesses in manufacturing, the service sector, trade and construction, fell to 88.5 points in June from 91.5 points in May, according to the survey revealed by the Munich-based economic research institute ifo.
"Expectations were markedly pessimistic, and companies' assessments of their current situations were worse," said the ifo report.
The reading of the index in the manufacturing industry hit the lowest point since November 2022. The respondents' assessment of the business climate in the manufacturing industry nosedived to minus 9.9 from minus 0.6 in May, signaling manufacturers' pessimism about the business climate deterioration in Germany.
Other sectors including the service sector, trade and construction also reported declines of different scales about their evaluation of the business climate.
Leading economic research institutes in Germany including ifo have recently unveiled their forecast for the German economy, which pointed to a contraction of 0.2 to 0.4 percent in 2023. The German central bank reckons that the economy will shrink by 0.3 percent this year. ■