German business attacks ‘complacent’ Berlin
Germany has become “overconfident” and “complacent”, with the government pursuing policies that put the country’s hard-won competitiveness at risk, some of Germany’s top business leaders warn.
Their criticisms of chancellor Angela Merkel’s government come as Europe’s largest economy is showing signs of slowing, raising concerns about its ability to continue driving growth in the stagnant eurozone.
Markus Kerber, managing director of the BDI, the German industry association, said: “Germany is now in a very good position. But in the next 10 years every economy in the developed world must change. In Germany the reform agenda is not making the progress that it did in previous years.”
However, poor second-quarter GDP figures have underscored the vulnerability of the export-driven German economy to external shocks, such as from Russia and Ukraine. GDP dropped 0.2 per cent in the three months to June, compared to the previous quarter.
Germany’s lacklustre performance threatens to make the European Central Bank’s battle against low inflation even harder and could make quantitative easing more likely.
Source: FT
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