Germany faces steep recession if Russian oil, gas halted

Germany will face a steep recession if there is a stop to imports or delivery of Russian gas and oil, a top German bank lobby warned on Monday.

Europe's largest economy is heavily dependent upon Russia for energy, and nations banks echoed concerns over possible energy disruption expressed by big names in industry in recent days.

Christian Sewing, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, said in his role as president of Germany's BDB bank lobby that banks expected sharply slower growth this year of around 2 per cent due to the war.

"The situation would be even worse if imports or supplies of Russian oil and natural gas were to be halted. A significant recession in Germany would then be virtually unavoidable," Sewing said.