rewrite this title German Business Confidence Heads Downhill After First Rise in Six Months

rewrite this content and create paragraphs BERLIN — German business sentiment fell for the first time after rising for the first time in six months as inflation in Europe’s biggest economy eased slowly and interest rates continued to rise, a careful survey showed on Wednesday. The IFO Institute announced that the monthly index fell to 91.7. In May, the points rose from last month’s 93.4 points. The index has been rising every month since November. Management’s outlook for the next six months has dropped significantly, but the company’s current assessment is slightly worse than it was in April. Confidence in the manufacturing sector fell sharply, with expectations rising to its biggest rise since March 2022. IFO said after Russia started the war in Ukraine. The German economy stagnated in the first quarter of this year after contracting by 0.5% in the last three months of 2022, according to preliminary figures released earlier this month. Germany’s annual inflation rate was 7.2%. In April, it fell from 7.4% in March. The European Central Bank has repeatedly raised interest rates to bring inflation across the 20 eurozone countries closer to its 2% target, creating unique challenges for businesses and consumers. “This is the root cause of the current downturn in the business environment,” said Timo Klein, chief economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence in Frankfurt, citing the persistence of core inflation and the resulting further tightening of monetary policy by the ECB. ‘, he said in a research note. Ifo’s research is based on responses from approximately 9,000 managers from various business areas.