The German government believes the economy may have grown by a stronger-than-expected rate of above 1.5 percent in the second quarter, news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. The magazine said internal government forecasts put second quarter growth at more than 1.5 percent - up from a previous estimate for the quarter of 0.9 percent. If the trend continues, the government expects full year growth of well above 2 percent.
The government's official 2010 forecast is 1.4 percent. Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle has hinted that rate will be revised up. The Federal Statistics Office will publish second quarter gross domestic product data on August 13. "I'm certain that we'll have quite a bit more than that by the end of the year," Bruederle told the B.Z. am Sonntag newspaper, according to an excerpt released on Saturday. He also said the unemployment level will slip below 3 million this year. Many private economists have already raised their forecasts.