BERLIN, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Federation of German Industries (BDI) sees an elevated risk of global recession, according to its world economic outlook published on Friday.
A global recession could be triggered especially by "rising U.S. federal funds rates as well as particularly flat interest rate curves, escalating trade conflicts or a disorderly Brexit," warned Joachim Lang, director general and member of the Presidential Board of BDI.
The German federation anticipates the global economy to grow by 3.25 percent in 2019. While China's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected by the BDI to grow by approximately 6.25 percent, BDI predicts the U.S. economy to grow by 2.25 percent in 2019.
One "grave wrong decision" would be enough to put Europe's economic development at particular risk, emphasized Lang. For 2019, BDI expects the economy of the European Union to grow by 1.5 percent, and it anticipates a 1.5 percent growth for the German economy as well.
Europe would have passed its "economic peak," said Lang, urging the German government "not to lose any more time" to "provide investment incentives for climate protection and research as well as tackle a tax reform."
Germany's economic momentum has already "suffered in recent months from the global slowdown" as well as from special economic effects in industry, commented Lang.
Germany's economy narrowly avoided a recession in 2018, figures published by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday showed. Following a decline of 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2018, GDP in the fourth quarter remained "nearly at the previous quarter's level," Destatis announced.
Germany's GDP grew by 1.4 percent in the whole year of 2018. Back in 2017, Germany's GDP growth stood at 2.2 percent. In January, the German government reduced its growth forecast for the German economy from 1.8 percent to only 1 percent for the year 2019.
