Germans remain big spenders

Nuremberg-based market research institute GfK said Wednesday that its forward-looking consumer confidence indicator had slipped to 10 points in October from 10.2 in September.

German's spending mood had edged lower because of uncertainty over Britain's exit from the European Union and a looming threat of terrorist attacks, GfK said in its monthly report, which is based on a survey of about 2,000 households.

However, GfK researcher Rolf Bürkl said in a statement that the consumer climate in Germany remained "stable at a strong level," even though Germans were "not immune" to current development. "The consequences of this for the European and, above all, German economy are still completely unclear."

German authorities have made several arrests of suspected terrorists in recent months following two Islamic State-inspired attacks in July. As a result, the GfK survey also showed overall economic expectations falling for the third consecutive month. In addition, income expectations dropped along with a gauge measuring consumers' propensity to buy.

Bürkl said those findings pointed to consumers expecting the country's economy to develop at a weaker pace in the coming months. Still, GfK forecast real private consumer spending to grow by about 2 per cent this year, consequently remaining a key pillar of German economic growth.

uhe/jd (AFP, dpa, Reuters