Generally speaking, the shock vote in Britain to quit the European Union was not expected to torpedo Germany’s economic recovery, Schaeuble continued.
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German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble arrives for the cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Wednesday, July 6, 2016.
The German approach contrasts with that of Britain, where finance minister George Osborne said after the Brexit vote he was abandoning his goal of eliminating Britain’s budget deficit by 2020, once the centerpiece of his fiscal policy. “We have an exceptionally good situation on the labour market with a high employment rate and low unemployment”.
Schaeuble was presenting his 2017 budget, with the public finances of Europe’s biggest economy projected to be in the black for the third year in a row.
The budget includes spending 77.5 billion euros (86.4 billion dollars) over the next four years on providing for refugees who have entered the country and dealing with the causes of European migration.
Economists this week called governments to stop leaning on exhausted central banks and use record low borrowing costs to kickstart a revival in private sector investment in a bid to reboot the world economy.
But Schaeuble said his budget plans do not mean excessive constraints.
Schaeuble expects government spending to total 328.7 billion euros next year before rising to 349.3 billion euros in 2020.
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“I also believe that the uncertainties will be limited”, Merkel said, referring to the economic impact on Germany of the Brexit referendum.
