FRANKFURT (MktNews) - There are more downward risks for the German economy, especially with regard to a possible further slowdown of the U.S. economy, the newest member of the German federal government's panel of independent economic advisors, the "five wise men," said in an interview published Monday.
"If we have (German) growth of around 2.4% this year, we can be happy", Wolfgang Wiegard told the Bild Zeitung.
Wiegard's comments are the latest in a series of downward revisions to German growth forecasts this year.
The German government's official forecast remains +2.75%. However, Finance Minister Hans Eichel repeated last week that the forecast is based on a growth range of 2.625% to 2.875%, and that growth this year would likely be at the lower end of that range, which the Bild interpreted as a revision of the forecast to +2.6%.
The respected Kiel Institute last week revised down its forecast for German growth this year to 2.1% from 2.4% previously, though it revised down its eurozone 2001 GDP forecast only slightly to 2.5% from 2.6%.