Upward trend of the world economy strengthens

The indicator for the world economy climate derived from the Ifo World Economic Survey improved in the second quarter of 2006 for the third time in a row. The slight rise of the climate indicator was due to better judgments of the overall economic situation that reached a five-year high. The expectations for the next six months remained as optimistic as before. The upswing of the world economy thus continues to be robust. In all three major world economy areas, positive tendencies were reported.