Germany must take more risks and stimulate its stagnant economy with a decade of infrastructure investment, the German Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy said on Friday.
“The next decade will be the decade of investments in infrastructure in bridges, in energy infrastructure, in storage, in maritime infrastructure … Telecommunications. And for this, we need speed. We need speed and investment, and we need private capital,” said Reiche Annette Weisbach on the Togc Summit.
While 10% of investments could be taken care of with public funds, the remaining 90% counted in the private sector, she said.
The newly created Minister of Economy also addressed the regulations from Brussels, warning that it could cause investment and growth start-ups if it is too restrictive. Germany must have learned that investments include risks “and we have to be opened to take more risks,” she said.
“This country needs an economic turnaround. After two years of recessions, the previous government had to announce (a) one year of zero growth for 2025 and we must really work there. Thus, at the top of the agenda is a booster of investors,” added the minister.
Reducing energy prices, stabilization of energy supply security and the reduction of bureaucracy was among the key points of the agenda, said Reiche.
The German economy has taken up slightly on a annual base In 2023 and 2024 and the gross quarterly domestic product has changed between growth and contraction for more than two years now, the success of a technical recession. Preliminary data for first trimester out of 2025 showed an expansion of 0.2%.
The forecasts do not suggest a lot of suspended from the slowness, the former German government last month, saying that it always expects the economy to stagnate this year.
It is despite a Major financial cobin Announced earlier this year, which included changes in the country's long -standing debt rules to allow additional defense expenses and a set of infrastructure of 500 billion euros ($ 562.4 billion).
Several of Germany's key industries are under pressure. The automotive industry, for example, is faced with striking competition from China and is now faced with prices, while the problems of construction of houses and infrastructure have been linked to higher costs and bureaucratic obstacles.
Trade is also a key pillar for the German economy and therefore the uncertainty on the part of the changing tariff policies of American president Donald Trump weighs heavily on the prospects.
