2021.03.1612:31:00UTC+00German ZEW Economic Confidence Continues To Rise

German economic confidence continued to rise in March, survey data from the ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research showed on Tuesday.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment rose more-than-expected to 76.6 points in March from 71.2 in February. The reading was above economists' forecast of 74.0.

Similarly, the current economic situation index climbed 6.2 points to -61.0 in March. The expected level was -62.0.

"Economic optimism continues to rise," ZEW President Achim Wambach said. "Experts expect a broad-based recovery of the German economy," said Wambach.

However, a large majority also expects inflation to continue to grow, as well as higher long-term interest rates, Wambach added.

Sentiment regarding the economic development of the Eurozone also increased further in March. The corresponding index gained 4.4 points to 74.0. Likewise, the indicator for the current economic situation climbed 4.8 points to minus 69.8 points in March.

On the price front, the survey showed that inflation expectations for the Eurozone rose 8.8 points, taking the index to a new value of 80.6 points. For Germany, the inflation indicator increased by 7.5 points to 81.0 points.

According to ZEW, more than 80 percent of the experts expect the inflation rate both in the euro zone and in Germany to rise in the next six months.