Business confidence in Germany improves in February

BERLÍN, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Business confidence in Germany improved in February, as it summed up the signs that Europe’s major economy recovered from the energy crisis and the rise in inflation, según mostró una publicada encuesta Wednesday.

Economic institute Ifo said its business confidence index stood at 91.1 points, after a revised reading of 90.1 in January.

A Reuters poll of analysts showed a February reading of 91.2.

“The German economy is gradually emerging from its weak phase,” said Ifo President Clemens Fuest.

The index measuring current conditions fell slightly to 93.9 from 94.1 the previous month, below analysts’ expectations for a rise to 95.0 points.

Joerg Kraemer, Commerzbank’s chief economist, said “the continued slight decline in the assessment of the current business situation gives us pause,” despite the rise in the business climate index.

According to Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe, in February the number of German companies complaining of bottlenecks in the supply chain was slightly lower (45.4%) than in January, when the percentage was 48.4%.

The German economy will not withstand a recession, but it will be soft, Wohlrabe added.

(Reporting by Rachel More and Miranda Murray; editing by Friederike Heine;