Confidence in Eurozone economy wide – Financieele Dagblad (Registration)

Entrepreneurs and consumers in the eurozone crisis shaking the years from him. The barometer that measures the economic sentiment in the region, has risen to the highest level in more than three and a half years.

is in March the index of economic sentiment jumped from 102.3 to 103.9, the highest level since June 2011, according to the monthly survey by the European Commission. The increase is more than twice as large as the 0.7 points that analysts on average were counting on. Both improvements in the services and industry voting this month.

“It seems that low energy prices, the weak euro and by the ECB policy dictated enthusiasm in the financial markets work magic, “ING analyst Peter Vanden Houte of poses in a first reaction. According to economist Holger Schmieding of Berenberg Bank “now we have the wind in our sails.”

About the board

It appears from the report of the Commission that confidence in the industry this month increased from -4.6 to -2.9 points, while the indicator for the service sector rose from 5.3 to 6. The fact that all sectors order books appear to become more crowded, has a much greater impact than the concern about the problems in Greece. The barometer for the business climate is of 0.09 to 0.23 climbed.

Sentiment improves in the whole region. The biggest jump made the Italians (+2.4 points), followed by Germany (+1.8) and Spain (+1.7). Only in Greece, confidence declined. In Italy, consumer confidence made even the biggest jump in over a decade. For the whole region is that confidence not been as high consumers since 2007.

acceleration

Last week turned out to figures from the Ifo institute in Munich that entrepreneurs in Germany have regained their optimism, after the dip in the autumn of 2014. The same picture emerged from the PMIs of London research firm Markit Economics. It showed that activity in the region increases firm. Only France is lagging behind.

“The economic data continue to surprise positively from the eurozone,” wrote Chief Economist Han de Jong of ABN Amro this weekend. “The accelerates growth.” Vanden Houte of ING believes that growth in the first quarter certainly true at 0.4%, and perhaps there is even more.