German economy shifting into higher gear: Bundesbank

Frankfurt

THE German economy, Europe's biggest, has slipped into higher gear powered by low unemployment, higher wages and the weak euro, the German central bank, or Bundesbank, said on Friday.

After notching up growth of 1.6 per cent last year, Germany would see gross domestic product (GDP) expand by 1.7 per cent in 2015, 1.8 per cent in 2016 and 1.5 per cent in 2017, the Bundesbank said in its latest monthly report.

That marked an "appreciable" upgrade from the central bank's previous economic projections in December, when it had …