Germany’s economic growth will stutter to a rate slower than Britain’s sickly progress next year according to the Bundesbank, which has suggested that Europe’s powerhouse economy could slip into recession.
Unnerved by the financial trauma afflicting its eurozone neighbours, Germany’s central bank yesterday slashed its forecasts for next year from growth of 1.6 per cent to an increase of only 0.4 per cent in GDP.
The sharp downward revision fuelled speculation of a rate cut by the European Central Bank — a possibility mooted by a Slovakian member of the ECB’s governing council. It means that Germany will grow by less than the 1.2 per cent expansion officially forecast for Britain by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The Bundesbank said: “Given the difficult economic situation