BERLIN (MNI) – German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle said
Tuesday that domestic GDP growth of close to 3% this year “is very much
assured.”
Earlier today, the German Industry Association (BDI) predicted
domestic GDP growth of “markedly above 3%” this year.
Speaking at an industry conference here, Bruederle called the
German upswing “broad based.” Germany’s “extra large upswing” was only
possible because most businesses held onto their staff, helped by the
government’s subsidies for short-time work, the minister argued.
The problem in the period ahead will not be unemployment but rather
a lack of skilled labor, Bruederle reckoned. “We will have increasingly
a shortage of skilled workers,” he predicted.
He also warned of rising protectionism. “I see many signs of
increasing protectionism worldwide,” he said.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$G$$$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]
