CAPTION: Dieter Kempf, BDI President, speaks at the annual kick-off event of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). (picture alliance/Jörg Carstensen/dpa)
The head of a key German industrial association said Thursday that "the best times are over" for Germany's economy, predicting slower growth than what the country has seen in past years.
Europe's biggest economy will probably see growth of 1.5 per cent in 2019, said Dieter Kempf, president of the Federation of German Industries. That would match 2018's rate but is below the 2.2-per-cent growth that Germany had in 2016 and 2017.
"Economically, the best times are over," he said.
The 1.5-per-cent figure was based on the assumption of an orderly Brexit, Kempf said. Should Britain leave the EU without a plan, as many fear after Parliament rejected a plan this week, German growth could take a further hit.
"If there are massive disturbances in trade between the United Kingdom and the EU, then, in the best case scenario, we will still see a one" in front of the decimal point, he said.
He also noted that trade tensions between the US and China could weigh on the German economy.
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