Germany's economic sentiment in negative territory for 1st time since December

ISTANBUL

Germany's economic sentiment index was in the negative territory for the first time since December, ZEW Institute said on Tuesday.

At minus 10.7 points in May, the index dropped by 14.8 points on a monthly basis.

Achim Wambach, the institute's president, said the index in Germany has once again fallen sharply, while the financial market experts anticipate a worsening of the already unfavorable economic situation in the next half.

"As a result, the German economy could slip into a recession, albeit a mild one," he said.

The institute said: "The financial market experts’ sentiment concerning the economic development of the eurozone also worsened considerably in May."

The index for the euro area was at minus 9.4 points, 15.8 points below the previous month’s value.