BERLIN (Reuters) - German economic growth will slow down to 2.3% in 2023, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Friday.
The government cut its economic growth forecast for 2022 this month to 3.6% from 4.1% seen in October.
Habeck told the Bundestag lower house of parliament that he expected the economy to reach pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter of 2022.
The country’s economy shrank 0.7% in the fourth quarter with consumers spooked by another wave of COVID-19 infections and factories reeling from supply-chain problems.
The figures reported by the nation’s statistics office are in line with an earlier estimate, but missed expectations by economists for a contraction of 0.3%. With no easing of coronavirus restrictions in sight and manufacturing constraints only starting to ease, Europe’s largest economy risks falling into its second recession of the pandemic.
In Germany, private consumption declined in the fourth quarter along with construction. The economy grew 2.8% last year, slightly more than reported earlier.