FRANKFURT (AFX) - German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said German growth will remain robust this year and the government has no reason to change its forecast of a 2.6 pct rise in GDP for the year.
"We are on the way to robust growth and there is no reason to change the forecasts," Schroeder said at a news conference. "All the data, both for growth and for the job market is pointing in the right direction."
His comments came after two bodies - the DIW economic research institute and the German Banking Association yesterday slashed their full year growth forecasts for Germany to 2.1 pct and 2.2 pct respectively.
Schroeder said minor downward revisions in growth forecasts would not be very significant.
"If we are discussing about whether there is a growth forecast of 2.4 pct of 2.6 pct we should be satisfied," he said, adding that such declines in German growth are not comparable to the current slowdown in Japan.
"The economic developments (in Germany) are pleasing ... it is right to look with optimism into the year 2001", Schroeder said.