German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said he expected the German economy, the biggest in Europe, to grow by at least 2.5 percent this year, a far sunnier outlook than originally forecast.

Gross domestic product during this year could “grow by significantly more than 2.5 per cent” on the back of a stronger-than-expected recovery, Mr Bruederle said in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of Parliament. In April, the German government left its growth forecast unchanged at 1.4 per cent, but last month the central bank revised its forecast to “around three per cent”, up from 1.9 per cent. In the second quarter, German recorded growth of 2.2 per cent, the highest since national unification in 1990, thanks to stronger domestic consumption as well as robust exports, the backbone of the German economy.