BERLIN, March 26 (Reuters) - German consumer sentiment
is expected to stay on its path of slow recovery in April,
helped by fewer households seeing the need to save even as
uncertainty about Germany's economic development still abounds,
a survey showed on Tuesday.
    The consumer sentiment index published jointly by GfK and
the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) rose slightly
heading into April, to -27.4 from a revised -28.8 in March,
beating a forecast by analysts polled by Reuters of -27.8.
    A five-point fall in propensity to save, to 12.4, helped
boost overall sentiment, said Buerkl, but the sub-indicator is
still relatively high: In the same period last year, it was 1.3.
    "The recovery in consumer sentiment is progressing slowly
and very sluggishly," said Rolf Buerkl, NIM consumer expert.
    "Real income growth and a stable labour market are in
themselves very good prerequisites for a rapid recovery in the
consumer economy, but consumers still lack planning security and
optimism about the future," added Buerkl in a statement.
    A further decline in inflation and a clear political
strategy for Germany's future development are the only way
consumers can regain planning security and contribute to the
recovery of Europe's largest economy, said the institutes.
    
                                APR 2024  MAR 2024  APR 2023
 Consumer climate               -27.4     -28.8     -29.3
 Consumer climate components    MAR 2024  FEB 2024  MAR 2023
 - willingness to buy           -15.3     -15.0     -17.0
 - income expectations          -1.5      -4.8      -24.3
 - business cycle expectations  -3.1      -6.4      3.7
    
NOTE - The survey period was from Feb. 29 to March 11, 2024.
    
    The consumer climate indicator forecasts the progress of
real private consumption in the following month.
    An indicator reading above zero signals year-on-year growth
in private consumption. A value below zero indicates a drop
compared with the same period a year earlier.
    According to GfK, a one-point change in the indicator
corresponds to a year-on-year change of 0.1% in private
consumption.
    The "willingness to buy" indicator represents the balance
between positive and negative responses to the question: "Do you
think now is a good time to buy major items?"
    The income expectations sub-index reflects expectations
about the development of household finances in the coming 12
months.
    The additional business cycle expectations index reflects
respondents' assessment of the general economic situation over
the next 12 months.

 (Reporting by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More)