Economics Minister Robert Habeck expects the currently high level of inflation to fall further. After 7.9 percent last year, an annual average of 6 percent is expected for 2023, said the Green politician on Thursday in the Bundestag in Berlin. He made a government statement on the annual economic report that he had presented the day before. According to forecasts, inflation will be curbed and the trend will be broken “in the year,” said Habeck. The energy price spiral must be broken, but core inflation must also fall.
The federal government has raised its economic forecast for this year and expects low economic growth. Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 0.2 percent, according to the annual economic report. However, contrary to what was expected in autumn, there will probably not be a decline in GDP on average for 2023.
“The figures that we presented yesterday in the annual economic report are not good,” admitted Habeck, but they are better than long feared. This is “a great community effort of this country”. Germany paid a high price as a result of the Ukraine war, but this is nothing compared to what the people of Ukraine endured.
The next big challenge is the shortage of skilled workers, said the minister. It is also necessary for more women to be able to work full-time and for people who have come to the country as migrants to be able to work here more easily. One-sided dependencies would have to be ended via new trade agreements. A stable and cheap energy supply should also be promoted, as should the fight against climate change. (dpa)