(ANSA-AFP) - FRANKFURT, SEP 12 - Germany will fall into recession next year, a leading think-tank warned Monday, with Europe's biggest economy facing soaring inflation as Russia slashes energy supplies. The Ifo institute expects the German economy to shrink 0.3 percent in 2023 -- slashing its forecast by four percentage points from a previous prediction in June.

Inflation is expected to hit 8.1 percent this year and 9.3 percent next year, it said. "We are heading into a winter recession," said Timo Wollmershaeuser, Ifo's head of forecasts.

"The cuts in gas supplies from Russia over the summer and the drastic price increases they triggered are wreaking havoc on the economic recovery following the coronavirus." Real household incomes and purchasing power will drop sharply, the think-tank warned. There is likely to be a "return to normal" in 2024 with 1.8 percent growth and 2.5 percent inflation, Wollmershaeuser said. (ANSA-AFP).