Business confidence in Germany has improved by a better-than-expected rate in June, underlining ongoing robust recovery of Europe’s biggest economy.

Ifo, a widely watched business climate index, said Tuesday that its index for Germany rose to 106.8 in June from an upwardly revised 105.7 in May, beating expectations.

Economists polled by the AFX financial news wire had forecast the index to dip to 105.2.
The business assessment index, which measures current conditions, climbed to 109.4 from 107.3 in May. Economists were looking for a June reading of 107.5.
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Bank of England (BoE) policymakers are predicted to maintain British interest rates at 4.50 percent on Thursday for the 10th month in a row.

The decision-making body of the BoE, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), will likely freeze the “repo” rate, at which the central bank lends to commercial banks, according to a poll of 35 forecasters by AFP’s financial news service AFX News.
However, economists are speculating that the cost of borrowing could rise as soon as August to keep inflation in check.
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