German economy to shrink 2.25% in 2009: Berlin

BERLIN: The German economy, Europe's biggest, will contract by around 2.25 per cent this year as it is slammed by the global slowdown, the government said on Wednesday.

"The German economy is facing this year the greatest challenges since unification (in 1990)," Economy Miniser Michael Glos said in a statement.

"Germany is integrated into the global economy like hardly any other industrialised country."