Bundesbank president Mr Ernst Welteke said today there was no reason to panic after leading economic research institutes cut their growth forecasts for Germany.
"Panicking just because of slight corrections in forecasts would be the totally wrong thing to do," Mr Welteke said in an interview published in
Bild
.
Germany's six leading economic think-tanks said this week they were now expecting German GDP to grow by just 2.1 per cent this year - instead of the 2.7 per cent forecast.
Evidence that the euro zone economy is failing fast has led to mounting pressure on the European Central Bank to cut its key interest rates.
But the ECB yesterday held its key rate at 4.75 per cent, the same level it has been since October.
As head of the German central bank, Mr Welteke sits on the ECB's governing council, the body responsible for setting euro zone interest rates.
AFP