According to foreign media reports, due to concerns about the intensification of the energy crisis this winter, the German business climate index fell to its lowest point since May 2020 in October.

　　According to data released by the German Iver Institute of Economic Research on the 25th, after seasonal adjustment, Germany's business climate index in October fell to 84.3 points from 84.4 points in the previous month, the lowest since May 2020. However, this figure was slightly better than the market expectation of 83.5 points.

　　The data shows that among the indicators that make up the business climate index, the manufacturing and construction indicators continue their downward trend. In the manufacturing sector, despite the decline in the number of new orders, orders remained adequate, with capacity utilization falling from 85.3% to 84.6%, although still above the long-term level of 83.6%. Construction confidence has fallen to its lowest level since January 2016. Services and trade indicators edged up month-on-month, but expectations remained gloomy.

　　Germany's Iver Institute for Economic Research said that the respondents' assessment of the current state of the industry's operations has decreased compared with September, although expectations for the next six months have improved. "Businesses remain worried about the coming months and the German economy is facing a difficult winter."

　　The Iver Business Climate Index is regarded as a vane of German economic development and has important reference value for observing the German economic situation. German inflation had already reached a high of 10% in September, and the government expects the economy to contract for three consecutive quarters. High energy prices are the main factor driving up inflation.

　　The German government removed hurdles last week to provide households and businesses with subsidies totaling 200 billion euros ($195 billion) to deal with high energy bills, but details of the plan have not yet been hammered out, according to the Associated Press. German government officials say they have enough energy to meet winter demand, but there is still a need to use natural gas sparingly.

　　Uniper, Germany's largest importer of natural gas, recently said that in order to save energy as much as possible and alleviate financial difficulties, the company closed half of its headquarters and lowered the temperature of the other half.

　　Germany is also looking for alternative energy sources. Germany held a ceremony on the 21st to receive the first batch of hydrogen from the United Arab Emirates in order to promote energy transformation and alleviate the domestic energy crisis.