Germany's economic sentiment surges in November

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Germany's economic sentiment index surged 22.5 points from a month ago to minus 36.7 points in November, the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said on Tuesday.

The sharp rise in November's reading was due to the hope that inflation rates would fall soon, ZEW head Achim Wambach said in a statement.

"In this case, policymakers would not have to hit the brakes on monetary policy as hard and/or for as long as feared," Wambach noted.

An index of current conditions bettered in Europe's largest economy, reaching minus 64.5 in November, up 7.7 points from October.

Despite the significant improvement in Germany's economic outlook compared to a month earlier, the figure still remains negative, ZEW data showed.

"The economic outlook for the German economy is still clearly negative,” Wambach added.

-Eurozone economic sentiment up 21 pts

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for the euro area also jumped 21 points from a month earlier to minus 38.7 points in November.

The indicator of the current economic situation in the eurozone gained 5.5 points to minus 65.1 points this month.

Inflation expectations for the eurozone dropped 16.4 month-on-month in November, hitting minus 52.2 points.