The President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Siegfried Russwurm, does not yet see an economic turnaround in Germany. There is a “silver lining on the horizon” in the form of slight growth, Russwurm said on Monday on “Deutschlandfunk”. “But the way things are looking at the moment, this is the usual economic ripple and not yet a real turnaround.” The German economy is not growing at the same pace as the USA or China, for example. The BDI expects economic growth in Germany to reach 0.3 percent in 2024. “That is not yet the turnaround we need. The underlying, long-term growth is what worries us most.”
In April, Russwurm made headlines with a critical interview about the economic policy of the traffic light coalition. Russwurm told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the last few years had been “two lost years.”
The BDI later called for an investment package of 400 billion euros. Russwurm said that they had simply added up what was needed in terms of investment in Germany. The 400 billion euros were the backlog needed to bring infrastructure up to scratch, for example.
However, the aim is not to put Germany into excessive debt, but to tap into existing reserves. “For example, efficiency reserves through greater digitization of the state,” said Russwurm. “There will also be no way around prioritization.” Further funds can be obtained through increased economic growth, because this increases tax revenues. “If all of that is not enough – and only if all of that is not enough – then we will have to talk about credit financing, and that is political wisdom.” But this should not be done by weakening the debt brake, but rather through “very targeted packages” on individual issues, with parliamentary legitimacy. There should not be a “general authorization,” on the other hand.
Russwurm said he is in talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) – “not just through interviews”. He wants to have a “constructive debate” with him about how to get the country out of the crisis. Regarding the federal government’s efforts, he said: “If you stick with the example of football: If I look at the results, we are currently eliminated in the preliminary round. And then the question of whether we played well is of secondary importance.”
The issue of economic growth must now be addressed as a priority in Germany and Brussels – together with other important issues. For example, climate protection and economic growth must be “cleverly” combined. We cannot afford the “luxury” of foregoing climate protection. But the two issues are not automatically contradictory anyway. “An Industrial Deal alongside the Green Deal – that must be the goal.”
To do this, bureaucracy must be reduced in order to be more efficient and more trade agreements must be concluded in order to become more independent. In the latter respect, the past few years have been “simply disappointing”. There has been “hardly any progress”.
“There are not many countries in the world that make 40 percent of their business from exports.” Germany has “an interest like hardly any other country in ensuring that free trade continues.” Berlin – just like Brussels – must find a balance between free trade and the sanctioning of competition violations by China, for example.
The success of the German economy is also of vital interest to Brussels. The federal government must make it clear: “The largest economy in the EU cannot fall over the edge. It must also be in the interest of the European internal market that we continue to be successful, because exports from Germany are also an export success for the European Union.”
When asked about the reasons for optimism, Russwurm did not want to commit to a specific answer. “If you are not an optimist as an entrepreneur, then you are in the wrong profession,” said the BDI president. “Things have to get better, because as an industrial country, Germany, we cannot afford to continue playing in the relegation zone.”
