BERLIN (MNI) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday once again
defended her government’s budget cutting plan, vowing that it will be
successfully implemented.
“The consolidation of the budget is a painful process, but it is
absolutely necessary,” Merkel told reporters here. She argued that
consumers in Germany are more willing to spend when they believe that
the government will produce sound public budgets.
The current economic upswing in Germany is “quite strong but not
yet sustainable,” Merkel cautioned. The GDP level of 2008 will be
reached at earliest at the end of 2012, she acknowledged.
Addressing criticism on the state of her center-right CDU/CSU-FDP
coalition government, the chancellor said she was “very certain” that
the coalition won’t break up. “We will govern very well in this
legislature,” Merkel said. The legislature still runs until autumn of
2013.
Merkel said bank stress tests in Europe, results of which are
scheduled to be published Friday evening, are necessary to instill
confidence in financial markets. She called the testing criteria
“realistic,” and reminded that there are two separate aid funds for
fiscally ailing Eurozone member states.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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