FX.co ★ European Economic News Preview: Germany Ifo Business Confidence Due

Friday's European economic news will be highlighted by the release of business sentiment surveys from Germany and UK retail sales data.

At 2:00 am ET, February's retail sales data for the UK will be announced by the Office for National Statistics. Contrary to the 3.4% increase seen in January, sales are projected to drop by 0.4% in February.

Meanwhile, January's import price data from Germany will also be released. Economics experts are predicting a 7.4% annual drop, following a decrease of 8.5% in December.

At 4:00 am ET, information will be shared on the state of business confidence in Germany based on the Ifo Business Confidence Survey. The business confidence index for March is expected to see a slight boost to 85.9 from February's 85.5.

At 6:30 am ET, Russia's central bank will reveal its monetary policy decision, and it is widely anticipated that the benchmark rate will be maintained at 16.00%.

The survey results from the Confederation of British Industry's Industrial Trends will be published at 7:00 am ET. It's expected that the order book balance will remain steady from last month, standing at -20% for March.