London/Berlin (Reuters) – Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner described the German economy as unfit during a visit to Great Britain.
Germany is not the “sick man” in Europe, as is sometimes claimed. “We are healthy, we have substance, but we are not in the best shape,” said the FDP chairman on Monday evening at an event at London’s LSE University. But the British economy is also not running smoothly because it is suffering from leaving the EU. “Both economies are in decline.”
Germany must counteract this with reforms. There is a need for immigration into the labor market and more flexibility there. In addition, bureaucracy must be reduced and costs for companies must fall, said Lindner. “I think we could be a lot better.” When asked about the poor poll numbers for his FDP of between three and four percent, Lindner said the economy needed to get going again. Then approval will increase again.
(Report by Maria Martinez and Christian Krämer. Edited by Ralf Bode. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected])