German business confidence rose in March as companies become less sceptical about the outlook for Europe's biggest economy, the Ifo economic institute said on Tuesday.

The Ifo institute's closely-watched business climate index rose by a stronger-than-expected one point to 16.7 points in March, Ifo said in a statement.

Ifo calculates its headline index on the basis of companies' assessments of the current business environment and the outlook for the next six months.

The sub-index measuring current business rose by 0.9 point to 113.8 points and the outlook sub-index climbed by 1.1 points to 100 points, the institute said.

"German businesses are less sceptical than in February," said Ifo chief Hans-Werner Sinn.

"Assessments of the current business situation improved, reaching their highest level in six months. After last month's sharp decline, expectations also recovered somewhat," Sinn said.
Source: AFP