Business Execs View Coming Months with Optimism

According to a survey of German executives carried out by the Psephos Institute, business leaders in Germany were more optimistic about future business conditions in July/August than in June, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported. Some 42 percent of 797 managers polled said they expected conditions for business to improve over the next 12 months, up from 27 percent in June, the biggest increase since September 1999, the paper said. Of those polled, 64 percent said the current business situation is still “rather bad” while 19 percent said it’s “bad.” The number of companies that plan to increase investment in the coming months rose to 19 percent from 15 percent in the previous survey. Only 39 percent of executives plan more job cuts, down from 45 percent, while 14 percent said they will step up hiring, compared with 12 percent in June, Handelsblatt said.