The ifo economic climate in the Eurozone has once again brightened up over the third quarter in 2007. This applies to both the current economic situation, which hit a six year high, and the long-term economic outlook. The latest provisional findings of the Ifo World Economic Survey (WES) forecast a sustainable economic upswing in the the second half of 2007.
In particular the economic situation in the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Luxemburg is said to be good. Furthermore the economic situation in Germany and Austria is assessed very positively by WES experts. Portugal is the only country within the Eurozone where the current economic situation receives once again bad marks. The forecast for the coming six months gives a positive picture for almost all countries in the Eurozone. Only in Ireland and Spain the economic development is said to slow down in the second half this year.
Inflation is expected to amount to 2.1% in 2007 which would be slightly less than in the year 2006, but still beyond the target value of the European Central Bank. WES experts expect key interest rates to rise further over the coming six months as well as the the capital market interest rates. Even though experts think that the US dollar is very much undervalued against the Euro, most WES experts expect the dollar to fall against the Euro in the coming six months. The Japanese yen is considered to be even more undervalued than the US dollar, while the British pound is seen to be overvalued against the Euro.
The ifo survey on global economic climate questions economists from multinational companies and internationally operating institutions. 