Bundesbank Forecasts Economic Slowdown

The Bundesbank, Germany's central bank, estimates that the modest recovery of the euro zone's biggest economy already appears to be running wrote that economic growth in Germany slowed in third quarter as exports -- the main engine behind growth in the previous quarters -- have hit a wall. Gross domestic product (GDP) in Germany expanded by 0.4 percent in the first three months of the current year and growth picked up fractionally to 0.5 percent in following three months. The anticipated slowdown in the third quarter was largely attributable to "somewhat calmer overseas demand" for German-made goods, the Bundesbank said. The country's leading economic research institutes are also forecasting a slowdown in German growth to just 1.5 percent next year from an anticipated 1.8 percent this year in their widely watched autumn report, scheduled for publication on Tuesday.