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Leading German institutes see 2020 GDP declining by less than in 2009: sources – Metro US

Leading German institutes see 2020 GDP declining by less than in 2009: sources

FILE PHOTO: VW re-starts Europe’s largest car factory after coronavirus
FILE PHOTO: VW re-starts Europe’s largest car factory after coronavirus shutdown

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s leading economic research institutes see Europe’s biggest economy shrinking less this year than it did in 2009 during the financial crisis, when GDP fell by 5.7%, sources said.

The decline for 2020 will likely come in at around 5.4%, several people familiar with the situation told Reuters on Tuesday.

That is a bigger decline, though, than the 4.2% the institutes had forecast in April.

The institutes are due to announce their latest forecasts on Wednesday. These forecasts form the basis for the government’s own economic predictions.

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Thomas Escritt)