[HIGHLIGHTS] The federal government probably only believes Germany can achieve growth of 0.2 percent

The federal government probably only believes Germany can achieve growth of 0.2 percent. The government had previously expected GDP growth of 1.3 percent.

Both the Munich Ifo Institute and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) are currently even more optimistic than the federal government. Ifo researchers lowered their forecast for 2024 from 0.9 to 0.7 percent in January, the IfW from 1.4 to 1.9 percent in December. High inflation, rising interest rates and the weak global economy had already slowed down the German economy in 2023.