German government cuts 2013 growth forecast to 1 per cent; 0.8 per cent increase seen this year

BERLIN – The German government is cutting its official 2013 economic growth forecast from its previous prediction of 1.6 per cent to 1 per cent.

The Economy Ministry on Wednesday also increased this year’s forecast for the country’s economy, which is Europe’s largest, slightly from the 0.7 per cent it predicted in April to 0.8 per cent.

The revised outlook puts the government in line with a forecast last week from a group of leading German economic think tanks.

Germany has seen two consecutive years of robust economic growth but it has lost momentum this year as financial woes among the other 16 countries that use the euro weigh on business confidence. Nonetheless, its continued growth is in sharp contrast with recessions hitting southern European countries such as Spain, Greece and Portugal.