BERLIN, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The German government has raised its economic growth forecast and now expects gross domestic product (GDP) to rise by 3.5 percent in 2021.
The GDP growth expected for this year is an "encouragement despite the current serious infection situation," said Germany's Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier in a statement, adding that the government's comprehensive support provided since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis is working.
The forecast is based on the assumption that Germany could gradually ease its far-reaching COVID-19 restrictions during the second quarter of 2021. Thereafter, a "significant recovery in the domestic economy and private consumer spending is expected," the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) noted.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the global economy into a severe recession in 2020, it is now "characterized by strong economic momentum in Asia and strong stimulus resulting from extensive economic stimulus programs in the United States," the BMWi said.
The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said that Germany's exports to China, which already was the country's biggest trading partner for the fifth year in a row in 2020, soared 25.7 percent year-on-year in February. Germany's imports from China have increased by almost a third year-on-year.
For 2022, the German government expects that the country's GDP to grow 3.6 percent. "By 2022 at the latest, we will have regained our former strength. Our economy is strong, robust and ready for a new start," Altmaier said. Enditem
