Germany will grow 2 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2018, according to the "five wise"

The German economy will grow this year by 2% and 2.2% next year, according to the report published today by the Council of Experts of the German Government, the so-called "five wise men", who warn of the "overheating" of the European locomotive.

Berlin, Nov 8 (EFE) .- The German economy will grow this year by 2% and 2.2% next year, according to the report published today by the German Government's Council of Experts, the so-called "five wise men" who warn of the "overheating" of the European locomotive.

The first EU economy is in a phase of "strong growth", clearly above its potential, considers this respected group of economists, who assures that it is time for a "readjustment of the economic policy" of the country and for "reforms that favor growth".

The objective of these changes, they continue, should be the "challenges of the future" of Germany, among which are those derived from "globalization, demographic change and digitalization", avoiding the solution to the "distribution discourse" that has prevailed until now.

The report predicts that the German economy will keep its cruising speed broadly in the coming months, to Despite the difficulties to form a government after the elections of September 24.

The conservative bloc of Chancellor Angela Merkel is negotiating with liberals and greens the formation of an unprecedented tripartite at the federal level and complex to articulate in the political by the differences between the parties, so it is difficult to foresee their proposals in areas such as the economy, Europe or the environment.

Merkel, receiving the report today in Foreign Ministry, stressed that the German economy is in a "relatively good" situation and recognized that politically "it is not so easy" to carry out structural reforms in times of prosperity, as the council asks.

The "five wise men" foresee that internal consumption will maintain the dynamics of growth in 2017 and 2018 at 1.8% (after the increase of 2.5% in 2016), that in both years the foreign sector contributes nothing to growth and that the increase in imports exceeds to exports.

In absolute terms, exports will nevertheless remain much higher than imports and the experts document figures the trade surplus this year at 7.7% and at 7.6% next year, below 8.5 and 8.3% in 2015 and 2016, but still in an area that many experts call imbalance.

According to the estimates of the "five wise men", the population with employment will continue to grow in Germany, and setting new highs, until reaching 44.8 million people in 2018, while the unemployment rate will continue to decline until be at 5.5% by the end of next year, which would be a record.

German inflation will also progressively approach the objective of the European Central Bank (ECB) - below, but close, 2% - and this year will be placed at 1.7% and at 1.8% next year.

In addition, the document foresees that the gross domestic product ( 2.3% this year and 2.1% next year and recognizes that the world economy has accelerated its growth since the second half of last year.