Denmark’s central bank cut its forecast for economic growth this year as exports remain sluggish and the government spends less. Gross domestic product will grow 1.3 percent in 2016, compared with a December forecast for 1.8 percent, Danmarks Nationalbanken said on Wednesday. The economy will expand 1.8 percent in 2017, less than an earlier estimate for 2 percent, the bank said. Exports will grow just 1 percent in 2016, compared with a 1.8 percent increase in consumer spending. The biggest drag on the economy this year will come from government spending, which will fall 1.5 percent, the central bank estimates. Denmark’s central bank uses monetary policy to keep the krone pegged to the euro. Governor Lars Rohde last year was forced to drive the benchmark deposit rate down to minus 0.75 percent to keep speculators out of Denmark’s AAA-rated assets. The country’s currency regime prevailed and Rohde was able to embark on a program of policy normalization, even raising the rate earlier this year. But the European Central Bank’s latest stimulus program has put renewed pressure on Denmark’s peg, with some economists predicting another rate cut is likely. Denmark’s measures to defend the peg last year actually helped generate a 3.6 billion-krone ($535 million) profit, boosting the central bank’s annual result by 2 billion kroner, it said.