War, inflation hit French, German consumer morale more than feared

By Leigh Thomas and Zuzanna Szymanska PARIS (Reuters) -France and Germany saw bigger than expected drops in consumer confidence this month as government steps to help with rising fuel costs and other inflation gave little relief following the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surveys showed on Tuesday. The European Central Bank says it remains confident the euro zone can avoid an all-out recession, but the collapse in consumer morale in its two biggest economies quashed hopes of a sharp bounce back after COVID-19 restrictions were eased. “In February, hopes were still high that consumer …

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