Economic experts advising the German government slashed their growth forecast for 2022 on Wednesday, warning that the situation in Ukraine and soaring energy prices have "drastically" worsened the outlook for Europe's biggest economy.

The German Council of Economic Experts said it now expects gross domestic product to expand by just 1.8 percent year on year, down from an earlier forecast of 4.6 percent.

Germany on Wednesday raised the alarm level under its emergency gas plan as fears rose that Russia could cut off supplies if Western countries refused to make payments in rubles.