German consumer confidence jumps in May

German consumer confidence jumped in May, indicating that the negative effect of a value-added tax (VAT) increase has ebbed, a key survey released Thursday showed.

The Nuremberg-based GfK market research institute said its forward-looking consumer confidence index is expected to rise to 5.5 points from April's 4.4 points, beating analysts' predictions of 4.8.

The improvement of the index, which is based on a survey of around 2,000 consumers, indicated that the VAT increase from 16 percent to 19 percent in January had had less effect on domestic spending than expected.

Source: Xinhua