FRANKFURT (AFX) - One of Germany's five economic 'wise men', Horst Siebert, said that the government's own prediction of 2.75 pct growth for 2001 is too "optimistic", and growth will only amount to 2.4 pct. Siebert, who chairs the Kiel Institute for Economic Research, sits on the 'wise men' panel of the five economists who provide the government with independent advice.
"This year I would only expect growth of 2.4 pct," Siebert said in an interview with the weekly Wirtschafts Woche.
He said that the appreciation of the euro and and the economic slowdown in the U.S. mean that Germany's exports will once more come under pressure over the next year.
In the next few months, the euro should move towards parity with the dollar, said Siebert.