IMF lowers economic growth forecast for Germany to 0.3% in 2025

 
INA-sources
 
The International Monetary Fund has again lowered its economic growth forecast for Germany, predicting an increase of only 0.3% in 2025, according to an updated report published on Friday.
 
This is down by 0.5 percentage points from the IMF's last forecast issued in October.
 
In 2026, German gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 1.1%, the IMF predicted, revising its earlier estimate of 1.4%.
 
This means Germany's economy is again expected to perform worst among the Group of 7 industrialized nations in 2025, according to the IMF.
 
How to fix Germany's ailing economy, long seen as the engine of Europe, is a central issue in the campaign leading up to early elections on February 23.
 
German GDP shrank for a second year in a row in 2024, the lengthiest recession for Europe's largest economy in more than two decades.
 
For the global economy as a whole, the IMF projected growth of 3.3% in both 2025 and 2026.
 
"The global economy is holding steady, although the degree of grip varies widely across countries," the IMF said in the update.
 
However, global growth is projected to remain below the "historical" average of 3.7% seen in 2000-2019, it said.
 
"An intensification of protectionist policies, for instance, in the form of a new wave of tariffs, could exacerbate trade tensions, lower investment, reduce market efficiency, distort trade flows, and again disrupt supply chains," the IMF predicted.
 
US President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday, has threatened to impose new wide-ranging tariffs on goods from a range of countries including Canada, Mexico and China.
 
The IMF is scheduled to release its next comprehensive economic outlook in April.
 
Source: Yahoo News