Germany must increase its investment to improve competitiveness – but not at the expense of higher debt, finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said.
His comments, in a newspaper interview on Sunday, follow a raft of economic evidence that shows Europe’s most important economy is slowing down.
Last week financial markets had a torrid time, partly rattled by the sight of a weakening German economy.
Mr Schaeuble is under pressure to boost infrastructure spending.
The list of potential projects includes roads, railways, and energy and broadband networks.
In the interview with the Welt am Sonntag, Mr Schaeuble said criticism that the government was not spending enough was justified, but that it was trying to alter that.
“We must invest more and improve our competitiveness. We must get to work on this – quickly and in a concrete way,” he said.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is now expected to grow by just 1.2% this year, rather than 1.8%, with growth of 1.3% in 2015, down from a previous estimate of 2%.
via BBC
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