Berlin (AFP)

The German government is expected to reduce its growth forecasts for next year, as its European partners push for stimulus measures.

The new estimates of the Ministry of Economy are expected at the beginning of the afternoon.

For 2020, it predicts a modest 1.1% growth, instead of the 1.5% still expected last spring, says the weekly Der Spiegel.

For the current year, according to the newspaper, the ministry's experts are sticking to their already very low forecast of 0.5% growth, a historically low figure compared to 2.2% in 2017 and 1, 4% last year.

As a model, Germany has become the "problem child" of the global economy, writes the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday. Italy aside, in any industrialized country growth should not be so low next year.

- Recession? -

This year, the first economy in the euro area is approaching for the first time in nine years of a recession, namely two consecutive quarters of declining GDP.

The 0.1% decline already observed in the second quarter should be followed by a further contraction in the third, according to the Bundesbank.

This slowdown marks the end of a golden decade for the country following the 2008 crisis, with strong growth fueled by exports and solid domestic demand.

But Washington's trade disputes, the troubles of the German auto industry following the diesel scandal, and Brexit-related uncertainties are turning the German growth pillar - exports - into an Achilles' heel.

Layoff plans have been on the increase for several months, the pace of job creations is slowing down, and all economic signals are red.

This gloomy context has fueled for several months a debate on a possible halt to the German budget rigor, symbolized by the government's policy Angela Merkel of "zero debt" - and the opportunity for the country to spend more to stimulate the economy. Especially since the public coffers are full with budget surpluses for years.

- Calls from France and the IMF -

"We must intensively discuss the + zero debt + with our German partners," warned a week ago the French Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire, in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt.

"Countries that can afford it should invest more and use their fiscal space to fuel growth across the euro area," he said.

Same story from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He urged Germany once again to invest more in infrastructure and education, being "given room for fiscal maneuver".

The IMF also expects only 0.5% growth in the country this year and 1.2% next year. The whole eurozone is suddenly pulled down.

The topic should be discussed from Thursday in Washington at the G20 Finance and Economy Ministers.

But for Berlin, this slowdown has not yet the profile of a crisis and the government so far resists calls from its partners, insisting that the level of its investments is already at a record level.

He prefers to keep his surpluses to finance the pensions of his aging population.

At the same time, the government is communicating more and more openly on its room for maneuver if the situation were to deteriorate further.

"Germany has the power of striking necessary in case of a real crisis," told a press Tuesday an official of the Ministry of Finance. In particular, he mentioned specific assistance to sectors in difficulty, such as machine tools.

© 2019 AFP