Bangkok, April 28: A recent survey conducted by an economic research institute in Germany shows that consumer confidence in the country is expected to fall once again for the second consecutive month.
The survey by GFK economic research institute revealed that the consumer confidence, which had first dropped in April for the first time in 10 months, is set to decline in May, AFP reported.
The survey, which studied some 2,000 German households, predicts a fall from April’s 5.9 points to an indexed 5.7 points in May. It also suggests that German consumers are struggling with increasing food and energy prices.
“Higher prices, the nuclear disaster in Japan and the escalating political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East all mean that the general conditions for German consumers no longer appear quite as positive at present,” the institute said.
The prices in Germany climbed by an average of 2.1 percent in March, which is greater than the European Central Bank’s goal, set to be lower than 2.0 percent.
Amid the constant fall in the country’s unemployment rate, the number of jobless individuals stood at 7.1 percent in March.
Germany expects that its economic activity will expand by 1.8 percent in 2012.
———Agencies