30 August 2001, 09:55 Repeat Press: EconMin Mueller: Seeing Euro FX Trend Chg Now
BERLIN (MktNews) - Germany's Economics Minister Werner Mueller
Wednesday offered an upbeat assessment of the economic performance of
the eurozone's largest economy, which he saw supported by the euro
current trend change.
"We are experiencing a trend reversal in the DAX (Germany's stock
market index) as well as in the euro. Furthermore, there are positive
effects, largely due to declining inflation rates which will fall again
to below 2.0% by end of the year," Mueller told Germany's business daily
Handelsblatt in an interview due for publication on Thursday.
Together these effects will push up real incomes and allow the
government's income tax cuts to translate into stronger consumer
spending, Mueller added.
Mueller criticized that the positive signs of the recovery had not
been noticed yet, pointing to the brighter outlook in the German
construction industry and the favorable situation of the German
automobile industry.
In the light of these developments, Mueller told Handelsblatt
"German GDP growth of up to 3.0% in the first half of 2002" is possible.
For this year, Mueller forecast economic growth of around 1.5%.
Earlier this week, Mueller told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
that growth of +3.5% was possible in the first half of 2002.
Mueller's assessment is less rosy than the government's official
2001 growth target of "around 2.0%." However, the government is widely
expected to cut its GDP forecast later in the year.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder recently conceded growth would
be lower than the official forecast, but still estimated it would rise
between 1.5% and 2.0%.
Germany's leading economic think tanks have predicted growth
of between 1.0% and 1.5% in the eurozone's largest economy this year.
© 1999-2024 Forex EuroClub
All rights reserved