ROME (Reuters) – The European Commission will forecast Germany’s economic growth this year at 0.2%, while projecting a 1.2% rate for Italy, Italian daily La Stampa reported on Monday, citing Brussels-based sources.
The Commission will issue its spring forecasts at 0900 GMT on Monday.
The 0.2% rise in gross domestic product forecast for Germany would confirm the Commission’s previous forecast made in February, but is more downbeat than Berlin’s own most recent projection of 0.4% made last month.
The Commission sees the euro zone’s largest economy growing by 1.4% next year, La Stampa writes, slightly above its February forecast of 1.3%.
Brussels’ 1.2% forecast for Italy is an upward revision from a 0.8% estimate made in February, and it is also above the Rome government’s official forecast of 1.0%.
Brussels forecasts Italian growth to remain broadly stable next year at 1.1%, La Stampa said, which is a marginal upward revision from its February forecast of 1.0%.
For the euro zone as a whole, the Commission will forecast growth this year at “slightly above” its previous forecast of 0.9%, the paper said, without being more specific.
The broader European Union will also see its growth rate revised “slightly up” from the February projection of 0.8%, the newspaper said.
It offered no forecast for 2024 for the EU or the euro zone.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones, editing by Gianluca Semeraro)
