BERLIN (MNI) – German Economics Minister Philipp Roesler on
Thursday reaffirmed the government’s expectation that there will be only
a temporary pause in the domestic economic upswing in the coming months.
In a declaration to parliament, Roesler acknowledged that slowing
global growth and the Eurozone debt crisis will impact the German
economy negatively.
However, this will be only a temporary “growth dent,” the minister
argued. “Germany will remain on a growth track in 2012 as well,” he
said.
On Wednesday, the government lowered its GDP growth forecast for
this year to 0.7% from the 1.0% projected in October. It sees GDP
growing by a modest 0.1% in the first quarter of this year after -0.3%
in the fourth quarter of last year. In a first forecast for 2013, the
government forecast GDP growth to accelerate again to 1.6%.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$G$$$,MGX$$$]
