Germany faces recession

GeRMANY is on the brink of recession, the country’s central bank has warned.

The Bundesbank said the economy could contract in the three months to September.

It comes amid a slump in factory orders and weakness on the jobs market.

The bank warned: ‘The downturn in industry has increased somewhat because demand from abroad has fallen.’

The economy shrank by 0.1pc between April and June, meaning another threemonth decline would put the nation into a technical recession.

one of the reasons Germany is reaching a tipping point is because the US and china, two of the largest destinations for many of the products it manufactures, are fighting a trade war. President Trump has denied that the US is falling into a recession, claiming on Twitter that the economy is doing ‘tremendously well’.

Stock exchanges around the world were rocked last week by signals from the US bond markets which usually indicate a recession is on the way.

The Bundesbank also warned Brexit had been a factor in Germany’s woes, because firms stockpiled ahead of a possible departure in March and then used up these goods in subsequent weeks, so they needed to import less than usual.

Fears about the state of the UK’s economy have been heightened by new worries that Britain will crash out of the eU with no trade deal on october 31.

hedge funds and traders are hoping to rake in billions from a further fall in the value of the pound.