German government raises expectations for economy in 2021
Berlin, Apr. 27 (BNA): The German government on Tuesday raised its hopes for the country's economic performance in 2021, the Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) reported.
Domestic industrial production and the demand for German goods abroad would drive a recovery from the economic strains of the coronavirus pandemic, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said in Berlin.
The government now expects gross domestic product to grow by 3.5 per cent in the current year. Previously, it had forecast growth of 3 per cent.
"This year is the year that we will finally turn things around," Altmaier said.
"We will not only put a halt to the economic collapse, but reverse it. By 2022 at latest we will have returned to our previous strength," he went on. The forecast for growth in 2022 was 3.6 per cent, he said.
Last year, economic output in Germany collapsed as a result of the coronavirus crisis, as it did in most parts of the world.
The government in Berlin has up until now been significantly more pessimistic than, for example, research institutes, which in mid-April forecast growth of 3.7 per cent this year.
The new economic forecasts depend on the progress in fighting the coronavirus in the second quarter to June. This should include the gradual lifting of social contact restrictions and the reopening of businesses which had to close due to the pandemic.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the current third wave of the virus demanded "a huge effort" from everyone, but insisted that "things are getting slowly better."
"European recovery plans are being put into action. These plans will give a boost to the whole of Europe," Scholz said.
