Fewer German Companies Plan Price Hikes - Ifo

German companies' price expectations weakened in February, signaling further easing in inflation in the coming months, survey results from the ifo institute showed Wednesday.

The ifo price expectations index fell to 15.0 points from 18.8 points in January. The easing was mainly due to the consumer-related sectors including accommodation, arts and entertainment, and hospitality, where price expectations fell from 32.4 points to 28.9 points, ifo said.

"This suggests that in the coming months, inflation will continue to decline," says Timo Wollmershauser, head of forecasts at ifo, said.

Price expectations in the retail sector edged up to 29.8 from 28.8, largely due to increases in the food and beverage retail sector. A small majority in the manufacturing sector plan to hike prices and the indicator rose to 4.9 from 4.3 points.

In the crisis-ridden construction sector, the majority of companies plan to reduce their prices and the price expectations measure sunk to -5.0 from -0.4 points.