Forecast: German 2012 economy to grow 0.6 percent

[January 05, 2012]  BERLIN (AP) -- A leading German economic think tank says it is lowering its 2012 growth estimate for Europe's largest economy to 0.6 percent.

The DIW think tank said Wednesday that the German economy would likely slide briefly into recession before recovering by midyear.

DIW previously had forecast 1 percent growth for Germany in 2012 but says that ongoing problems in other European Union will likely hurt German exports.

It says it expects the economy to recover with 2.2 percent growth in 2013 but only if the eurozone debt crisis stabilizes.

Other German economic think tanks are forecasting 2012 growth between 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent. The government's independent economic advisers are predicting 0.9 percent growth.

[Associated Press]

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