The German economy is firing on all cylinders, and a surge in sentiment suggests it has staying power. Business confidence rose to the highest since 1991 this month, while manufacturers saw the fastest growth in six years amid a surge in orders. Consumer spending, investment and exports all contributed to growth in the first quarter, helping the economy to expand 0.6 percent, its strongest performance in a year. Germany’s booming economy is the single-biggest driver of a regional upswing that is adding pressure on Mario Draghi to open a debate in June about unwinding the European Central Bank’s unconventional stimulus. The Bundesbank predicts that the bloc’s largest economy will continue to grow at a robust pace in the coming months, supported by “lively” foreign and domestic demand.  “Not only the German economy, but the entire euro-zone economy could become the positive growth surprise of 2017,” said Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING-Diba AG in Frankfurt. “With growth broadening across all sectors” in Germany, “there are no signs that this recovery could come to an abrupt halt any time soon.” In the first quarter, German construction surged the most in three years as mild winter weather bolstered activity. Spending on new equipment increased at the fastest pace since the end of 2015, according to the statistics office. The seasonally adjusted increase in gross domestic product matched a May 12 estimate. The Ifo institute’s confidence index rose to 114.6 in May from 113 in April, beating the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey. Gauges of both current conditions and business expectations improved. German manufacturing and services activity accelerated in May, according to a survey of purchasing managers. A similar report for the euro area showed that the economy is growing at a pace that would warrant a tightening of monetary policy if it wasn’t for weakening inflation. While ECB president Draghi acknowledged the recovery is becoming increasingly solid and broad, he also warned that price pressures remain muted. His Bundesbank counterpart Jens Weidmann said on Monday that policy normalization will near if the continued economic upswing in the region and the gradual decline in unemployment push up wages and inflation on a sustained basis. “The euro zone’s growth trajectory remains very supportive, fueling expectations that the European Central Bank will have to adjust its stance soon, maybe as early as June,” Julien Lafargue, a strategist at JP Morgan Private Bank in London, said by email. “However, despite some green shoots, inflation dynamics remain relatively subdued” and tighter policy could reinforce that so the ECB “may have to wait before signalling that the end of its extremely accommodative policy is in sight.”