Euro zone economic sentiment surges in July

The euro zone received a boost today after a report revealed business and consumer confidence surged to its highest level since March 2008.

Confidence in the 16-member nation rose to 101.3 in July, up from a revised 99 in June, according to the European Commission’s economic sentiment index.

However, the Commission highlighted that the rise was led by Germany, which experienced a 4.0 point increase in confidence.

Sentiment fell, though, in Spain with the index losing 2.2 points as the country is in the midst of tough austerity measures to bring its budget deficit down.

Meanwhile, confidence also picked up in the 27-nation European Union, growing by 1.9 points to 102.2 points in July.

The growth in sentiment will be a welcome boost to the region, which is suffering amid a debt crisis and an uncertain outlook.

Commenting on the data, Jennifer Mckeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics, said: “July’s improvement in the (euro zone) consumer and business surveys adds to the evidence that the euro-zone is performing surprisingly well, but with stark divergences between countries.”

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Euro zone economic sentiment surges in July