CAPTION: The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce
(DIHK) believes that a threatened crash of the German economy has been
averted. (picture alliance/dpa/Hauke-Christian Dittrich)
The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) believes that a threatened crash of the German economy has been averted. This also has to do with the energy price brakes, DIHK CEO Martin Wansleben said in Berlin. "This has calmed some things down, but not revived anything yet." Instead of a deep recession, the DIHK now expects a "red zero" for this year on balance. In the fall, the DIHK had still expected a decline in economic output of around 3 percent.
However, three out of four companies in all sectors still considered the high energy and raw material prices to be a business risk, the DIHK said, referring to a nationwide economic survey carried out by the chambers of industry of around 27,000 companies. Companies could plan better again, albeit at a significantly higher cost level, the survey found. This was putting pressure on margins and investment opportunities. "Only if investment picks up more strongly can a self-sustaining upturn set in," Wansleben said.
Most recently, the German government had also raised its economic forecast for this year. It now anticipates low economic growth instead of a decline in gross domestic product.
According to the economic survey, twice as many companies, 16 percent, expect business to be better over the next 12 months compared with the fall, according to the DIHK. The proportion of pessimists expecting business to be worse in the same period is now 30 percent - but in the fall it was still 52 percent.
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