Germany faces sluggish growth in 2020: DIHK

Reuters

Published Feb 19, 2020 02:08AM ET

Germany faces sluggish growth in 2020: DIHK

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's DIHK Chambers of Industry and Commerce said on Wednesday it expected Europe's largest economy to grow by 0.7% this year, up slightly from 0.6% in 2019, with export growth stagnant in the face of trade conflicts and Brexit.

A large part of the expected growth is due to four additional working days this year, with strong state consumption supporting the otherwise lackluster economy.

"More companies still expect business to be worse rather than better this year," said DIHK Managing Director Martin Wansleben, presenting the association's latest business sentiment survey of more than 26,000 firms.

Businesses' propensity to invest was up slightly since a similar survey last autumn.

"However, the uncertainties caused by the coronavirus are coming now," Wansleben said.