German growth

    THE German Government is on the verge of raising its growth forecasts for this year and next, but its new projections will be more conservative than those published by leading economic institutes last week, two government sources told Reuters.

    The institutes are calling for growth of 2.1 percent in 2015 and 1.8 percent in 2016. “This is too high,” one of the sources said, making clear that the government would take a more cautious view. Berlin is currently forecasting growth of 1.5 percent this year and of 1.6 percent in 2016. Although exports are no longer providing the robust support for German growth that they once did, private consumption has picked up in the face of record-low unemployment and generous wage deals.

    Ghana program

    THE head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Saturday that a new IMF support program for Ghana would likely unlock lending from other bilateral institutions.

    “It clearly will have a catalytic effect,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told a news conference at the conclusion of a meeting of the IMF’s steering committee. “When a country has signed a program ... it generally always triggers on the part of other bilateral institutions, of other bilateral lenders, financing that sometimes had been frozen or locked.”

    Euro’s fall

    THE euro’s depreciation has been very helpful, but it is a good level now and stability is needed now, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Saturday.

    “The fall in the value of the euro is very good news for all of Europe and in particular for France. It’s very good news,” Sapin told reporters during meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. A weaker euro helps facilitate the sale outside the eurozone of airplanes and other products, and enables European countries to defend themselves against goods that arrive from abroad, he said.