German institutes see domestic demand driving growth in 2016, 2017

Germany's leading economic institutes trimmed their growth forecast for the current year on Thursday, but insisted Europe's biggest economy is enjoying a moderate recovery, fuelled by cheap oil and robust consumer spending. The institutes -- the DIW in Berlin, IWH in Halle, Ifo in Munich and RWI in Essen -- predicted that gross domestic product (GDP) would expand by 1.6 percent this year and then by 1.5 percent in 2017, after growth of 1.7 percent in 2015. The 2016 forecast is slightly lower tha