Germany will sustain its current economic momentum in spite of slightly weaker growth, a study by the German central bank (Bundesbank) predicted on Friday.

According to the Frankfurt-based central bank, gross domestic product (GDP) in Germany will grow by an annual rate of 2.0 percent in 2018, 1.9 percent in 2019 and 1.6 percent in 2020.

The country would hence continue to experience a "lasting phase of strong economic momentum" characterized by "rising wages and domestic inflation," as well as "growing pressure on the productive capacities" of firms, a statement by Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann read.

In spite of the largely positive outlook, however, the central bank lowered its earlier forecast for GDP growth in 2018 by 0.5 percentage points and warned of growing risks on the horizon.

"The uncertainties for the outlook on the Germany economy have increased substantially," Weidmann explained. He argued that the potential adverse effects of growing protectionism unleashed by the "America First" policy of U.S. President Donald Trump hereby outweighed the growth-enhancing character of more expansive fiscal policies promised by the German federal government during the coming years.

The central bank predicted that exports and corporate investments were consequently likely to grow at a slower pace than witnessed in 2017. Additionally, an increasingly acute shortage of skilled labor would be reflected in a weaker expansion of German employment compared to previous years which in turn meant that private consumption would make less of a contribution to GDP growth.

The Frankfurt-based researchers which compiled the official support were more sanguine with regards to the development of consumer prices. Inflation was forecast to rise slightly to 1.8 percent in 2018 and remain close to that level in the coming years as well. "A weakening in price growth for energy which will eventually even turn into a decline thereof will offset higher prices for goods and services," the study authors wrote.