QROPS Advice: Investment News: German business confidence rises

German business confidence rose more than economists forecast to an 18-month high in January as the global economic recovery boosted exports. Rising foreign sales, fuelled by Asian demand, may help offset a slide in domestic spending and ensure Germany's economy continues to expand. The government said last week it will raise its 2010 growth forecast to 1.5 percent from 1.2 percent even as some of its stimulus measures expire. Europe's largest economy shrank 5 percent last year, the most since World War II. Tuesday's report "laid to rest some of the concerns that the economy is running out of steam," Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING Group said.