Germany’s economy slowed in Q1‎

Data showed today, Friday, that the German economy slowed in the first quarter, in light of the increase in exports and capital investment offsetting the decline in government and household consumption.

According to “Reuters”, the Federal Statistics Office said that the gross domestic product did not change on a quarterly basis. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a growth of 0.2 percent

German economy shrank by an adjusted rate of 0.5 percent in the last quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter, which caused renewed fears of a technical recession, which is a recession that occurs when contraction is recorded in two consecutive quarters.

International Monetary Fund predicted a recession in Germany and also predicted a 0.1 percent contraction in gross domestic product in 2023, while expecting growth in other economies in the eurozone.

German government described the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts as “very cautious” and predicted that the euro zone’s largest economies would escape recession by a slight margin.

It raised its forecast for economic growth for this year to 0.4 percent from 0.2 percent forecast earlier, according to its spring economic forecast released on Wednesday.

“A gradual recovery is taking place despite the continuing difficult environment,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said. An acceleration in growth is expected after the first quarter.