German business confidence declines to near 7-year low

BERLIN (AP) - German business confidence has fallen for a fifth consecutive month and hit a nearly seven-year low, according to a closely watched survey.

The Ifo institute said Monday that its monthly confidence index declined to 94.3 points in August from 95.8 in July. Managers' views of the current situation and the outlook for the next six months both worsened.

It was the lowest reading for the index since November 2012 and the Ifo insitutute's head, Clemens Fuest, said "there are ever more indications of a recession in Germany."

The survey is based on responses from some 9,000 firms.

The German economy contracted by 0.1% in the April-June period and the country's central bank, the Bundesbank, said last week it "could decline slightly" again in the summer. Germany has Europe's biggest economy.