Business expectations in Germany deteriorated to levels last seen 10 years ago, when Europe's largest economy suffered from a severe recession, the German Industry and Trade Association (DIHK) said Business sentiment has reached new lows and there is no hope that things will get better soon, DIHK, said, citing a biannual survey of more than 25,000 German companies regarding the economic outlook.
The survey paints a bleak picture of what to expect from the German economy, which saw growth of just 0.2 per cent last year after 0.6per cent in 2001. In the recession year of 1993, real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by an annual 1.1 per cent.
"Germany is in deep economic doldrums and there is currently no sign of things improving," DIHK's managing director, Martin Wansleben, said in a prepared speech text.
Wansleben said in an interview that GDP growth this year is unlikely to reach the 1 per cent forecast by the German government.
