Perl, Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Germany must not take the economy’s robust performance last year for granted, citing international risks including increased protectionism in 2017.
As Germany assumes the chairmanship of the Group of 20 nations, it will focus on emerging “protectionist tendencies,” Merkel said Saturday in her weekly podcast from the Federal Chancellery in Berlin. German growth last year climbed at the fastest pace in five years.
“The economic situation right now is quite good,” Merkel said as she embarks on a campaign to seek her fourth term as leader. Even as she cited a strong labour market, a shortage of workers in some areas and increase in gross wages, Merkel said that “we can’t be complacent with this economic dynamic.”
Merkel met with leaders of her Christian Democratic Union in the western state of Saarland to flesh out an election strategy, which will include touting strong growth and budget surpluses to address inequality. The chancellor cited a lag in progress in the digital economy, where she proposed setting up an independent ministry.
“Germany in many areas has to move forward quickly,” she said in the podcast. Bloomberg
