Germany's Mittelstand loses faith in government's ability to revive economy

By ‌Klaus Lauer and Maria Martinez

BERLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - German small ‍and ‌medium-sized enterprises are rapidly losing confidence in the government's ability ⁠to restore economic growth, ‌with only 39% still expecting a turnaround compared to 62% in spring, a DZ Bank survey showed on Monday.

The survey ⁠of more than 1,000 managing directors and decision-makers from the Mittelstand sector ​revealed disillusionment across key policy areas including ‌energy prices, taxes and bureaucracy.

Confidence ⁠in infrastructure improvements fell particularly sharply, dropping to 43% from 58% in spring. 

Germany's parliament approved in March plans ​for a massive multi-year spending surge, including 500 billion euros ($587.40 billion) for infrastructure and plans to largely remove defence investment from the rules that cap borrowing.

Some 44% ​of ‍respondents expect the government's ​fiscal programmes for infrastructure and defence to fizzle out, according to the survey. 

"After the new government initially started with positive momentum and a certain amount of confidence on the part of entrepreneurs, disillusionment is spreading," said Stefan ⁠Beismann, a member of DZ Bank's board of directors. 

The survey showed clear differences by ​company size. Only 35% of the smallest firms with turnover below 5 million euros consider a return to growth realistic, compared to 46% of larger ‌companies with turnover above 50 million euros.

($1 = 0.8512 euros)

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, writing by Maria MartinezEditing by Ludwig Burger)