Consumer sentiment in Germany remains "decidedly positive": GfK

BERLIN, march 26 (Xinhua) -- Consumer sentiment in Germany remained positive and only deteriorated slightly during march, according to a study published by Germany's largest market research institute GfK on Tuesday.

In march, GfK's consumer sentiment index, which depicts the proclivity of Germans to spend money on consumer goods, fell by 0.1 points to a total 10.7. However, "consumer mood among Germans remains decidedly positive",it announced.

Stable condition of job market in Germany combined "with ever increasing employment" would ensure that consumers in Germany will continue to be willing to spend their money, "especially since saving is not an attractive alternative in light of the current period of low interest", GfK found.

In march, the downward trend in economic expectations came to a standstill "at least temporarily", as the GfK indicator for economic expectations rose by 7 points to 11.2 points. During the last 12 months, however, this indicator has lost nearly 35 points.

Consumers would not be expecting that Germany will fall into a recession this year, yet they did see a "noticeable cooling off of economic activity", according to GfK.

The worries of German consumers were confirmed by the recently published forecast of the German Council of Economic Experts which recently lowered their growth forecast for the German economy for this year from 1.7 to just 0.8 percent, GfK added.

The downturn in economic expectations would be due "more to foreign than domestic economic factors", the research institute explained. The "lack of decisiveness regarding the nature and date" of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union as well as the growing trade conflict between the EU and the United States would "clearly creating ever more uncertainty among consumers".

Following a "stable start to 2019", GfK is expecting a "first setback" and consumer sentiment in Germany declining by 0.3 points in April. Enditem