BERLIN (MNI) – German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle said in a
newspaper interview published Sunday that German GDP will grow at a much
stronger clip this year than the +1.4% previously forecast by the
government.

“I’m sure that it will be markedly more” than +1.4%, Bruederle told
German weekly BZ am Sonntag. The recovery will also continue next year,
the Minister predicted.

The stronger growth will have a positive impact on the labor
market, Bruederle said. “I expect that we will get under 3 million
unemployed in the course of the year,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, German weekly Der Spiegel reported over the weekend that
the government expects German GDP growth of above 1.5% q/q in the second
quarter. In April, when the government released its latest GDP
forecasts, it projected 2Q GDP growth of +0.9% q/q.

The government now expects GDP growth of markedly above 2% this
year should the current trend continue, Der Spiegel wrote.

–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com

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