BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's finance ministry expects Europe's biggest economy to bounce back after a weak second quarter and thinks growth may even exceed the government's current forecast of 1.8 percent for this year, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Sunday.
"There is a chance of more favourable economic developments than expected, especially on the domestic side," said an internal ministry document quoted by the magazine.
This scenario is based on the likelihood that the labour market and future consumer and investor confidence will be stronger than previously predicted.
Germany's economy shrank by 0.2 percent in the second quarter and the Statistics Office placed the blame largely on weaker foreign trade. Uncertainty about risks from the Ukraine crisis and from conflicts in the Middle East has made some economists more cautious.
The document quoted by Der Spiegel also said that the euro zone recovery could turn out to be stronger than expected.
The Ukraine crisis and "geopolitical tensions" were named as risks for the German economy in the document, said the magazine.
(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Gareth Jones)