Skip to main content
Saturday, October 31, 2026Oct 31
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

German investor confidence rises to highest level in a year

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble waits for the start of a meeting of eurogroup finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. Greece’s radical left government and its European creditors headed into new talks Monday on the debt-heavy country’s stuttering bailout program, but expectations are low despite a fast-approaching deadline for some kind of deal. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble waits for the start of a meeting of eurogroup finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. Greece’s radical left government and its European creditors headed into new talks Monday on the debt-heavy country’s stuttering bailout program, but expectations are low despite a fast-approaching deadline for some kind of deal. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble waits for the start of a meeting of eurogroup finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. Greece’s radical left government and its European creditors headed into new talks Monday on the debt-heavy country’s stuttering bailout program, but expectations are low despite a fast-approaching deadline for some kind of deal. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

By Associated Press 1 min read

BERLIN (AP) – A survey shows that investor confidence in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has risen to its highest level in a year though the increase was a little short of expectations amid concerns over Ukraine and Greece.

The ZEW institute said Tuesday its monthly confidence index, which measures investors’ economic outlook for the next six months, rose to 53 points for February from 48.4 last month – the fourth consecutive increase. Economists had predicted a rise to 55 points.

ZEW president Clemens Fuest said the European Central Bank’s decision to start buying government bonds with newly printed money improved sentiment along with robust fourth-quarter German economic growth.

All the same, he said that “the intensification of the Ukraine crisis and the collision course of the new Greek government are dampening expectations.”