germanys economic outlook unexpectedly brightened in june as purchasing power improved amid moderating inflation despite expectations that the economy is unlikely to rebound substantially for the rest of 2023 the zew economic institutes index of economic expectations for germany rose to minus 85 in june from minus 107 in may it said tuesday economists in the wall street journals poll forecast a fall to minus 130 while the reading improved on month it remained in negative territory suggesting that experts dont anticipate an improvement in the economic situation during the second half of the year zew president achim wambach said particularly sectors focused on exports are likely to perform poorly due to a weak global economy however the current recession is generally not considered particularly alarming he said germany suffered a winter recession with the economy contracting 05 in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 03 in the first of 2023 inflation also remains high with may data earlier on tuesday showing prices rose 61 on year albeit a slowdown from 72 in april adding to economic worries the zews index measuring the current economic situation in germany dropped substantially to minus 565 in june from minus 348 in may economists forecasted a fall to minus 414 in the wsjs poll