Germany sees 2021 GDP growth of 1.3%, coalition, government sources say

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government expects the country's economy to grow 1.3% in 2021, coalition and government sources said.

On Monday, sources familiar with the figure said the government expects the economy to grow 1.1% this year, up from a previous estimate of 1.0%.

Asked about this year's growth forecast, a spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry on Monday declined to comment and pointed instead to the upcoming publication of the government's annual economic report.

Europe's biggest economy narrowly dodged recession last year, and the Ifo institute's monthly survey on Monday showed business morale weakening, suggesting the economy got off to a slow start in 2020.

Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe said the German economy was likely to grow by 0.2% in the January to March period after expanding by 0.1% in the fourth quarter as the industrial sector slowly emerges from a crisis.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Holger Hansen and Christian Kraemer; writing by Paul Carrel; editing by Madeline Chambers, Larry King)