The German economy is far from the ideal supply situation

The German Research Institute for Economics (Ifo) reported that the problem of material shortages in the German manufacturing sector has eased this month, but Germany is still far from an ideal supply situation.

Ifo has published the results of the German Business Survey on the supply shortage of companies.

Thus, in March, 41.6 percent of the companies in Germany stated that they had various problems, especially bottlenecks in the supply of intermediate products and raw materials. In February, this rate was registered at 45.4 percent.

PROBLEMS HAVE INCREASED AFTER COVID

Meanwhile, the rate of German companies claiming to have these problems in the pre-Covid-19 period was at the 5 percent level. According to Ifo, the proportion of companies complaining about material shortages in key sectors of German industry remained at a very high level.

While the rate of companies having problems in the automotive industry, electrical-electronic companies and mechanical engineering is 60 percent, the rate of companies having problems in the paper industry is determined to be 2.4 percent.

Klaus Wohlrabe, Director of the Ifo Survey Center, said: “This relaxation will have a positive impact on industrial production in the coming months. However, we are still far from an ideal supply situation.”

“Companies have learned to deal with the current bottleneck,” Wohlrabe said, noting that material shortages in key industries have undoubtedly had a habit effect. he made his assessment. (AA)