BERLIN
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has reiterated his criticism of Germany for its heavy reliance on exports during a key visit to Berlin on Wednesday.
“We continue to believe that policies that promote domestic demand would be good for the German economy and global economy," Lew said during a press conference with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, following their meeting in Berlin.
The US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew praised some recent steps of the German government but also underlined that much more is needed to stimulate domestic demand.
"Over the course of the past year, I think we have seen very constructive movement to get the balance right between fiscal consolidation and growth," Lew said. He praised the new German coalition government’s plans for boosting investment and introducing a nationwide minimum wage and described them as steps “in the right direction.”
German Finance Minister Schaeuble has dismissed criticisms directed at Germany’s large export surplus and claimed that the current economic growth is driven by the growing domestic demand. “And the Eurozone as a whole has only a small surplus,” Schaeuble said.
The German Finance Minister has warned against “new bubbles” with the large amount of liquidity in the markets and stressed that there is a need for structural reforms and their implementation should continue with the recovery in the Eurozone.
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