“I say this self-critical – the task is higher than someone could imagine a year ago. We have not been in the structural crisis of our economy,” said Merz on Saturday during the city of Osnabrück in northern Germany.
Data published on Friday showed that the German economy decreased more in the second quarter than it was initially estimated. Economic activity in Germany in the second quarter fell by 0.3 percent compared to the previous three months, which is a powerful decline for 0.2 percentage points than showing preliminary assessment.
“No one else should have an illusion of how deep and far-reaching challenges we face”, sentenced Merz to members of his Christian-Democratic Union, the province of the seat of the Volkswagen AG car manufacturer.
The decline in Volkswagen earnings after tax from 36% in the second quarter pointed out as just “one of many messages.” “Large parts of our economy are no longer competitive, and that is the issue of price competitiveness,” Merz warned, not stating the names of those companies.
“The quality is still good and company leaders recognize these challenges. But the basic conditions in Germany were simply not good enough in the last decade,” he added.
From the takeover of the duty this year, Merz promised comprehensive reforms aimed at reducing bureaucracy, modernization of infrastructure and encourage domestic demand. His government is planning hundreds of billion euros investment in roads, bridges and armed forces to increase productivity.
On Saturday, he pointed out new tax incentives for business investments and repeated his opposition to the increase in the Middle Companies. He also admitted that American duties of 15% to German exports will be a burden for the economy, but warned that the open trade war with Washington could be much worse.
(Vijesti.ba)
