BERLIN, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Germany's leading economic institutes on Wednesday slashed their forecast for the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year, only expecting it to grow by 2.7 percent instead of the previous forecast of 4.8 percent.
In 2023, Germany's GDP would grow more strongly again, up by 3.1 percent instead of 1.9 percent as previously predicted, the institutes said in a Joint Economic Forecast.
The joint forecast was prepared by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the ifo Institute (Munich), the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), and RWI (Essen)
The German economy is "navigating through difficult waters," the institutes noted. The aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and shockwaves from the Russia-Ukraine conflict are "creating opposing economic forces."
The institutes expect a record annual inflation at 6.1 percent this year. In 2023, the inflation rate would fall again to 2.8 percent. Inflation in Germany reached a 40-year high of 7.3 percent in March.
If Germany was to immediately impose an embargo on Russian gas supplies, the country's GDP would increase by only 1.9 percent this year and even shrink by 2.2 percent in 2023, according to the forecast. Inflation would even rise to 7.3 percent, followed by 5 percent next year.
Germany has already announced plans to largely overcome dependency on Russian gas by mid-2024. ■