French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference on Sept 10,2007. The high level of the German consumer climate index in the summer months has not been sustained in September, according to the Gfk monthly survey of German consumer confidence. Meanwhile, France's national statistics office Insee said today that a survey of French manufacturers showed that they remain upbeat despite the ongoing credit market turmoil.All three main indicators of the German consumer mood are slightly down. Due to the most recent developments of the consumer climate, GfK has decreased its forecast growth of private consumption from 1.0 to 0.6% for 2007 as a whole. Following the revised 7.4 points in September, the consumer climate forecast for October is 6.8 points.
As was already evident in August, the positive consumer mood has been affected by the rather more gloomy conditions of late. Above all, the credit crisis in the USA and rising food prices are responsible for the somewhat less euphoric consumer attitudes. In addition, increasingly critical comments mean higher skepticism amongst consumers who anticipate a slight glitch in the German economic upswing as a result of the strong euro, high energy prices and a weak economic outlook in the USA. In light of this, buying propensity, which managed to withstand last month’s negative effects, is somewhat weaker this month.
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