GERMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE LOWERS GROWTH FORECAST
The DIW economic research institute
said West German economic growth in 1987 is unlikely to reach
the 1.5 pct rate it had forecast earlier this year.
    The institute, whose forecasts are more pessimistic than
those of the other four leading German institutes, said the
economy had passed its peak in the summer of 1986, and its
prospects had dimmed significantly since the autumn.
    The DIW repeated earlier predictions that gross national
product (GNP) in the first quarter of 1987 would contract in
real, seasonally adjusted terms against the weak final quarter
of last year.
           
 Reuter
