German industry leaders see no 2012 recession

BERLIN Dec 26 (Reuters) - The leaders of Germany major business and industry groups said they expect the country's economy to lose momentum though not enter recession in 2012, weighed down by the euro zone's debt crisis.

In interviews with Reuters released on Monday, they also said they do not expect the euro to fail though they agreed the region's crisis looms as a major threat to growth and stability in Europe and the United States.

"We're expecting an economic slowdown but no recession," Hans-Peter Keitel, president of the BDI industry group, told Reuters. He added that was a "normal phenomenon" after two strong years of growth. He said he was confident about 2012.

The German government expects growth in 2011 to be 3 percent and then slowing to 1 percent in 2012. The Economy Ministry denied on Monday a report in Focus magazine that this forecast would be cut.

Several independent institute have lowered their 2012 forecasts to a range of between a slight contraction to growth of just under 1 percent.

Hans Heinrich Driftmann, head of the DIHK Chamber of Industry and Commerce, added: "We're expecting growth of 2 percent next year." He said he expected more jobs to be added to the labour market.

Otto Kentzler, president of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH), said that he was confident the German economy would continue expanding in 2012.

"There will be growth in 2012 even if it's perhaps a bit less than in 2011," Kentzler said.

Anton Boerner, head of the BGA exporters association, said export growth would slow in 2012 after back-to-back boom years. He said he expects exports to grow by "about six percent" in 2012 after two years of double-digit growth.

"Growth is still robust even if the growth will be a bit less in 2012," he said. (Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by John Stonestreet)