German HWWA institute hikes 2006, 2007 GDP growth forecasts

The Hamburgische Welt-Wirtschafts-Archiv (HWWA), one of Germany's six leading economic think tanks, said it has raised its forecasts for German GDP growth in 2006 and 2007 following revisions to official economic data.
The institute said it now expects economic growth in Germany will reach 2.1 pct this year, up from its July forecast of 1.6 pct.
Growth is then expected to slow to 1.1 pct next year. The HWWA had previously predicted a growth rate of 1.0 pct for 2007.
"We still expect that there will be a significant economic slowdown next year due to the drastic increase in VAT and other restrictive measures in Germany," the think tank said in a report.