Germany’s economic growth will “lose momentum” this year because of high oil and food prices, the strong euro and the turmoil in the global financial markets, according to a projection by leading economic think-tanks.

Europe’s largest economy grew by 2.5 per cent in 2007, a rate set to fall this year to only 1.8 per cent, says the joint forecast prepared for the German government by eight economic institutes, presented on Thursday in Berlin.