The German government no longer expects economic growth this year. Stagnation is now assumed instead of the previously predicted 0.3 percent growth.
The German government’s new forecasts will be released in October. Officials at the Ministry of Economic Affairs are still working on the new forecasts, which could also change. Sources told Bloomberg news agency .
The automotive sector in particular is having a hard time, which is underlined by the great unrest at Volkswagen about the possible closure of German factories.
The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said last week that economic concerns in the business community are growing and that there is a “dramatically bad mood” among companies. The government must therefore do more to support the economy, the lobby group said.
Germany’s leading economic research institutes last week lowered their joint expectations for Europe’s largest economy and the Netherlands’ most important trading partner. The institutes believe that there will even be a contraction of 0.1 percent this year. Earlier, a small plus was expected.
