BERLIN (MNI) – German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle on
Thursday said that German GDP will increase by at least 2% this year.
“There are good chances that there will be a ‘2’ before the decimal
point,” Bruederle said on the sidelines of the New Year’s reception of
the German president. The minister is due to release new growth
forecasts next week.
Commenting on the European sovereign debt crisis, Bruederle said
that he opposed proposals by European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso to enlarge the European Financial Stability Facility. Bruederle
demanded that politicians abstain from making new proposals on the
matter, as markets would likely become more unsettled.
The minister said that he was confident Portugal and other
fiscally-troubled Eurozone member states could get their budget
situation once again under control without help from their Eurozone
peers.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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