Germany isn’t sick man of Europe, but tired man who needs coffee -Lindner

By Maria Martinez

BERLIN, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Germany is not the sick man of Europe, but a tired man in need of a “good cup of coffee” of structural reforms, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday.

“Germany is not the sick man,” he said at a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Lindner said Germany was “a tired man” after the recent years of crisis, and its low growth expectations are probably a wake-up call.

What Germany needs now is a “good cup of coffee, which means structural reforms,” he said.

Speaking at a panel about the global economic outlook, he added that the year 2023 had been “a call for action” and said challenges include the rise of artificial intelligence and the threat of fragmentation in the global economy.

The euro zone’s largest economy contracted by 0.3% last year amid persistent inflation, high energy prices and weak foreign demand.

Lindner expects a higher level of growth in the mid-term in Germany, he told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Still, economists have said that recent drags on growth would still be around in the first months of 2024 and could, in some cases, have an even stronger impact.