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'Pronounced slowdown' in Germany

Aug 31 2008 11:05

Berlin - Germany's economy is undergoing a "pronounced slowdown" that could drag on to 2010, the chief economist at Deutsche Bank, Norbert Walter, said in an interview released on Saturday.

Recession could be averted with "happy accidents" such as a fall in energy and food prices, an improved economic outlook in the United States or a rebound of the US dollar, he told the Euro am Sonntag business weekly.

"But
I don't consider any of these eventualities plausible," Walter said. "We are in a period of a pronounced slowdown (that will probably) last until 2010."

He added that a political effort by Berlin to perk up Europe's biggest economy would likely have "very little impact".

Germany's economy contracted 0.5% in the second quarter of 2008, the first time in four years that activity decreased, and a possible third quarter contraction would put it into recession.

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