Ifo World Economic Climate improved

The Ifo indicator for the world economic climate rose clearly, following a decline in the fourth quarter of 2010, and is now at the highest level since the end of 2007. It is now clearly above its long-term average. The rise in the world economic climate indicator is the result of more favourable assessments of both the current situation as well as the six-month outlook. The results indicate that world economic activity, after a slight dampening at the end of last year, is picking up again. In nearly all countries, the price expectations moved upwards. This was especially marked in Asia. On average for the world, a price increase of 3.4% is expected for 2011, in comparison to 3.1% for the previous year. In the course of the next six months, a slight rise in the value of the US dollar is expected vis-à-vis the euro.