In its monthly report, published Monday, the Bundesbank said that German economy stagnated in a final quarter of last year and policymakers are increasingly concerned that weakness in Europe’s biggest economy could be bigger and longer than earlier thought, a risk to the entire continent.

According to Germany's central bank, weak orders in manufacturing, increasingly gloomy sentiment indicators and sluggish investments all suggest that the economy is unlikely to regain momentum during the winter months.

“All this suggests that the underlying pace of the economy should remain subdued at least in the first half of the year,” the Bundesbank said. “But there are no signs that the slowdown is becoming an outright downturn.”

It also added that auto exports, a big growth drag in late 2018, are starting to normalise, the labour market remains healthy and strong wage development suggests that private consumption will pick up. Fiscal support should also kick in, supporting growth.