BERLIN, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) significantly lowered its forecast for the German economy for 2022 on Wednesday, expecting the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 4 percent, 1.1 points less than previously assumed.
Supply bottlenecks and the fourth COVID-19 wave were "weighing on Germany's recovery, delaying the catching-up process by several months," IfW Kiel noted.
For 2023, the institute raised its forecast and expects German GDP to grow by 3.3 percent, up from its previous estimate of just 2.3 percent.
"Overall, the dent in the recovery process caused by the ongoing wave of infections is somewhat larger than we had expected in our autumn forecast," said Stefan Kooths, vice president of IfW Kiel and research director of business cycles and growth.
However, "thanks to progress in vaccination, the setback will be nowhere near as severe as in the previous winter half-year," Kooths added.
Germany's GDP is expected to decline by 0.3 percent in both of the winter quarters "before the upswing picks up again strongly from spring 2022 onwards, when the burdens of the pandemic ease," IfW Kiel noted.
Additional momentum could come from a gradual overcoming of supply bottlenecks, which were "currently weighing heavily on industrial production," the institute noted. Pre-crisis levels of the German GDP would not be reached until the second quarter of next year.
Research institution ifo Institute also on Tuesday lowered its 2022 economic growth forecast for Germany from previously expected 5.1 percent to 3.7 percent next year. Enditem
