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Before the Federal Elections: Survey Reveals That German Companies Are Still Dissatisfied with Economic Policy, despite Upward Trend

Although the economic situation has considerably improved after the long lockdown in spring 2021, the situation in many sectors remains tight, as the company trend of the German Business Panel (GBP) at the University of Mannheim shows. The answers of more than 1,800 German companies from more than 80 sectors demonstrate that companies are particularly dissatisfied with the economic policy of the current federal government. While many companies acknowledge remote work and digitalization as opportunities, they are also critical of the coronavirus policy.

Since the strict lockdown in February 2021, the economic situation of companies in Germany has continuously improved. An upward trend in turnovers, profits and investments can be observed. For August 2021, the current numbers of the company survey conducted by the German Business Panel show that turnovers have increased by 5.6 percent and investments by 5.2 percent, as compared to the same period in the previous year. While profits have still not reached the level of the previous year, numbers point upwards. Profits have increased by 0.9 percent from July to August 2021.

Profits and turnover show positive developments, but a few days before the federal elections, most of the companies that participated in the survey are dissatisfied with the German economic policy. While 44 percent of companies stated that they were satisfied with the economic policy in July, only 41 percent agreed with this statement in August. These figures show that satisfaction with the economic policy is 7 percent lower than the companies’ satisfaction with the coronavirus measures.

Please go to https://www.accounting-for-transparency.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/gbp_monitor_2021_9.pdf to see the GBP monitor on company trends in September 2021 (in German).

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