2 July, 2008 – Germany's retail federation, the HDE, has trimmed its forecast for 2008 but said that prices increase for food should ease in the second half of the year.
The federation reduced its growth prediction from 2% to 1.5% after sluggish performance in the retail sector during the first half of the year.
HDE has said consumers remain cautious about spending on the back of high energy costs, rising inflation and uncertainty about the future.
Josef Sanktjohanser, HDE President, said: “"Consumers are marked by the idea that economic growth will not reach them. Another fear that has affected citizens is that of inflation.”
But the HDE chief delivered a more encouraging assessment of price increases for the second half of the year.
“Good harvests for staple foods have been announced so far, so I expect the strong price increases for food to ease in the second half of 2008,” he said in Berlin.