German consumer sentiment still sluggish - GfK

German consumer sentiment remains sluggish, but continues to make slow progress towards recovery, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The joint GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) consumer sentiment index rose slightly looking ahead to April, to -27.4 from a revised -28.8 in March.

"The recovery in consumer sentiment is progressing slowly and very sluggishly," said Rolf Buerkl, NIM consumer expert.

"Real income growth and a stable labour market are in themselves very good prerequisites for a rapid recovery in the consumer economy, but consumers still lack planning security and optimism about the future."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com