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Bundesbank President Nagel: “Participated in a pro-democracy rally for the first time in my life”
Photo: Hannelore Foerster / Hannelore Förster / IMAGO
Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel sees the rise of right-wing extremism as a threat to German prosperity. “I appeal to everyone not to take the danger of right-wing extremism lightly,” Nagel told the newspapers of the Funke media group. »Right-wing extremists also scare away investors and skilled workers from abroad. “That threatens our prosperity,” said Nagel. As a citizen, he is very concerned about this development. "That's why I recently took part in a pro-democracy rally in Frankfurt for the first time in my life."
Nagel: “We are not the sick man of Europe”
At the same time, he appealed to the business associations not to badmouth the economic situation in Germany. He doesn't want to downplay the enormous challenges. »But we shouldn't make the situation worse than it actually is. Otherwise no one will come to Germany and invest. We are not the sick man of Europe," said Nagel.
He would not be happy if the economy just stalled this year. However, Germany comes from a special situation because its large, open economy was particularly badly affected by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. At the same time, he referred to the stable labor market. "Germany has almost full employment," he said.
However, Nagel called for more ambition in tax cuts and reducing bureaucracy. The Growth Opportunities Act contains lower tax relief than originally planned, but it is now important to actually implement it. The Federal Council passed the slimmed-down law on Friday. The relief volume in the Mediation Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat had previously been reduced from the previously planned seven billion euros to 3.2 billion euros per year.
has/dpa