France and Germany saw bigger than expected drops in consumer confidence this month as government measures to help with rising inflation and fuel costs offered little relief in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, surveys showed on Tuesday. The crumbling of consumer morale in the euro zone’s two biggest economies shattered hopes for a bounce back after COVID-19 restrictions were eased. “In February, hopes were still high that consumer sentiment would recover with the easing of pandemic-related restrictions. However, the war in Ukraine caused these hopes to vanish into thin air,” GfK consumer expert Rolf Buerkl said in a statement. In Germany, the GfK institute said its consumer sentiment index, based on a survey of around 2,000 people, tumbled to -15.5 points heading into April from a revised -8.5 points a month earlier and the lowest since February 2021. Economists polled by Reuters […]