German industry has warned of an economic downturn and called on the federal government to step up the pace of reforms.
A government in a permanent "self-talk mode" means standstill, criticized BDI head dieter kempf at the german industry day in berlin in view of internal coalition conflicts. Economics minister peter altmaier (CDU) proposed a growth pact with relief for the economy. He wants to take advantage of possible financial leeway worth billions of euros.
Altmaier said his initiative was based on three pillars. On the one hand, there should be an understanding with the economy about innovations. "The second saule is that we understand about relief reductions that will become possible through growing government and tax revenues."In addition, there should be a further attempt to reduce bureaucracy.
The minister of economics suggested that half of all additional revenues should be used to relieve the burden on the economically active. The aim is to challenge the ability to innovate. Altmaier spoke of an amount of at least double-digit billions in the coming years. "We should have the courage to decide on this together in the coalition in order to send a clear signal to all those who are economically active."
German business has long called for relief – also citing corporate tax cuts in the U.S. And other countries. BDI head kempf criticized the federal government for standing idly by and watching this drifting. "This almost borders on failure to provide assistance."
The grand coalition is divided and too preoccupied with home-made crises. "We need a policy that not only administers, but courageously determines the course of our country."One year after the federal election, kempf gave the government a poor report card. "Unfortunately, people are still stumbling."
German industry is still in a robust condition, but the economy is no longer running as smoothly as expected. "Our strong is vulnerable," said kempf. Germany must prepare for an economic downturn. The BDI lowered its economic forecast for the current year from two and a quarter percent to two percent. The high export share of the german economy is increasingly under threat, said kempf, referring to trade conflicts with the u.S. Or brexit. The head of the federation of german industries (BDI) called for an innovation offensive in schools and universities, as well as for high-speed internet access in remote rural areas.
Further relief is demanded by the economy also in the planned solidi reduction. German chancellor angela merkel (CDU) took this up in her speech at the industry day. She described the agreement reached with the SPD as one of the most difficult compromises in the coalition negotiations. The soli will be abolished for 90 percent of payers, but not for ten percent.
She does not think this is fair. "We will try again and again to change this question, because I don’t think it’s good news for all the companies."The business community criticized that the current plans threaten to leave middle-class taxpayers empty-handed.
Merkel also promised again to improve the work of the government. "I can understand you all very well when you say that the formation of the government took so long and then there was a high proportion of self-employment again, and we would like that to be different," said the chancellor. She takes the request very positively: "I will do everything to come to improvements there."
The chancellor had admitted only on monday that mistakes had been made in dealing with the controversial head of the office for the protection of the constitution, hans-georg maaben. In the originally planned appointment of maaben as secretary of state, she had been "too concerned with the functionalities and procedures in the interior ministry, but had thought too little about what rightly moves people," merkel said, expressing her regret.