German economy expected to contract
Euro zone economy will grow by 1.4
Growth package offers limited boost

BERLIN, Sept 26 Reuters Germany39;s leading economic institutes have downgraded their forecast for 2024 and now see Europe39;s largest economy shrinking by 0.1, they said in their autumn joint economic forecasts.

The forecast confirms the numbers Reuters reported exclusively earlier this week.

Germany39;s economy was the weakest among its large euro zone peers last year with a 0.3 contraction.

In addition to the economic downturn, the German economy is also being weighed down by structural change, said Geraldine DanyKnedlik, head of forecasting and economic policy at DIW Berlin.

Decarbonisation, digitalisation, and demographic change alongside stronger competition with companies from China have triggered structural adjustment processes that are dampening the longterm growth prospects of the German economy, she added.

Economic growth is not expected to return to its preCOVID trend for the foreseeable future.

The growth rate has been halved compared to the period between the financial crisis and the pandemic, said Oliver Holtemoeller, from the Halle Institute for Economic Research IWH. He noted that the average growth rate in Germany between 2011 and 2019 was about 1.4.

The government39;s economic growth package will fall short of the output boost of 0.5 it says it can deliver next year, the economists said.

The impact will come later and the impulse…