Germany’s new finance minister, Lars Klingbeil, said on Wednesday that “there is no time to lose” in kick-starting Europe’s struggling economy, even though the US’s tough trade policy is making his job harder.
Klingbeil, from the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the junior partner in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition, inherits an economy that has been in recession for the past two years.
“We want to spur growth,” the politician told a news conference, after officially taking over the key post from predecessor Joerg Kukies. “We want to show that we in Germany are a safe harbour — we are a country in which it pays to invest.”
US President Donald Trump’s tough and inconsistent tariff policy has disrupted the global economic order and undermined hopes for a recovery in Germany’s export power.
Klingbeil, who is also vice-chancellor, acknowledged that Germany’s economic recovery will be even more difficult given “what is happening now in the United States and in other parts of the world.”
But he said the planned €500 billion ($570 billion) infrastructure fund, which was recently approved by parliament, would be a positive signal.
Klingbeil said the money from the fund could help “keep our industry in this country” and “attract new industries.” He added that it was also important to consider lowering energy prices and reducing bureaucracy.
Critics say Germany’s deteriorating infrastructure, from creaking trains to crumbling bridges, is holding back economic growth and is the result of years of chronic underinvestment.
Klingbeil also said that on Wednesday he would hold talks with European finance ministers and that the key task would be to find ways to increase investment through EU institutions.
