BERLIN (MNI) – The German government has cut its GDP growth
forecast for this year to 0.7% from the 1.0% figure projected in
October, Economics Minister Philipp Roesler said Wednesday, presenting
the government’s new annual economic report.
In a first forecast for 2013, the government projects GDP growth to
accelerate again to 1.6%.
Due to a difficult foreign economic environment, the German economy
will experience “a temporary growth bump” over the coming months,
Roesler said. “In the course of 2012, the economy will gradually pick up
again,” he predicted.
The government expects German GDP to grow by a modest 0.1% q/q in
the first quarter of this year after -0.3% in the fourth quarter of last
year, the minister said.
Roesler cautioned that the growth expectations hinge on the
assumption that the Eurozone debt crisis won’t deteriorate. “The biggest
risks are developments in financial markets and in the Eurozone,” he
said.
Still, the government sees no risk of a credit crunch in Germany,
the minister stressed.
Economic growth this year will be mainly supported by domestic
demand, while foreign trade will be a drag on GDP growth, Roesler
pointed out.
Private consumption is forecast to grow by 1.2% this year,
equipment investments by 2.0% and construction investments by 0.8%.
Exports are seen increasing by 2.0% and imports by 3.0% in 2012, the
government projects in its annual economic report.
The average unemployment rate is forecast to fall to 6.8% this year
from 7.1% last year. Nominal gross wages per worker are expected to rise
by 2.4% in 2012 while annual average inflation is tabled at 1.8%.
The downwardly revised 2012 GDP growth forecast will not prompt a
revision of the 2012 budget numbers, Roesler said.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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