Germany’s Scholz working with industry to boost growth

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised on Tuesday to work with industry to revive growth in Europe’s biggest economy, which he said had been hit harder than others by geopolitical conflicts, inflation and high interest rates.

To boost growth, his government was working to reduce bureaucracy, strengthen investment and create affordable, sustainable energy, Scholz said, adding that Germany also needed more skilled workers.

“Inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical conflicts, strained supply chains – as an industrialised and export-oriented country, we have been hit harder than others,” Scholz said at a conference of the BDA employers’ association.

“We need more growth. The pie has to get bigger again,” he said.

The chancellor also stressed the importance of bringing more skilled workers into the job market, including from abroad, and creating more flexibility with working hours and the pension age.

Scholz also said his government wanted to strengthen Germany as a financial centre, adding it would be a crucial task for the European Commission to complete the capital market union.