German government advisers see only modest economic growth next year

BERLIN (AP) — The German government’s panel of independent economic advisers is forecasting that the country’s economy will shrink by 0.4% this year and grow only by a relatively modest 0.7% next year. The panel on Wednesday joined several other forecasters in revising downward its outlook for Europe’s biggest economy. Its prediction for this year was in line with one issued by the government about a month ago, but next year’s forecast was considerably gloomier than the 1.3% the government expects. In their previous outlook in March, the experts had forecast that gross domestic product would grow 0.2% this year and 1.3% in 2024.