BERLIN (MNI) – Domestic GDP growth this year could be markedly
above 2.5%, even though momentum will likely moderate somewhat in
autumn, German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle said Thursday.
“Germany has digested the economic and financial crisis faster than
expected,” Bruederle said in a speech in parliament. There is reason to
be optimistic about the country’s economic outlook, he argued.
“Naturally, risks still exist, but we have turned the corner,” he
reckoned.
“Even though momentum will likely normalize somewhat in autumn, GDP
could grow in the full year markedly above 2.5%,” the minister said. The
government’s standing forecast dating from spring is for only 1.4%
growth this year.
Yet politicians and experts now expect German growth in the current
year to clearly top earlier forecasts.
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday that GDP
growth will likely even exceed 3% this year but will slow next year.
“We won’t have a growth rate of above 3% next year, but we have
every chance for sustainable economic development,” Schaeuble said in
parliament.
The European Commission now expects German GDP growth to be +3.4%
this year, after only forecasting growth of +1.2% in spring, it
announced Monday in its most recent economic forecasts.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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