According to the latest twice-yearly survey of six leading economic research institutes Germany's economy will grow 1.7% next year after three years of stagnation. The recovery is however not expected to be enough to cut the number of jobless or erase Germany's large budget deficit. The growth estimate for 2004 was trimmed slightly from the 1.8% in their previous spring forecast and the institutes also cut their outlook for this year to zero growth from the 0.5% expansion forecast in the spring. Finance Minister Hans Eichel later said the government would make a matching cut in its own official forecast, to be announced in late October. "I think this will be the federal government's forecast," Eichel said at a meeting in Berlin. The German government had previously predicted growth of 0.75% for this year, rising to 2% in 2004.
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