Sentiment among German exporters suffered its biggest drop in March since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis hit morale in April 2020, plummeting because of the war in Ukraine, the Ifo economic institute said on Monday.
An Ifo index on export expectations, based on a survey of about 2,300 manufacturing companies, fell to -2.3 points from 17.0 points in February. In April 2020, the index fell by 31.2 points at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.
“Growth in exports will slow down noticeably,” Ifo President Clemens Fuest said in a statement, referring to the March reading. “Export expectations fell across all manufacturing industries.” (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
