Erfurt (dpa/th) – Thuringia’s Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) sees the autumn report by leading economic researchers as a warning signal to the federal government to act quickly to limit the loss of prosperity in Germany. “We are on the verge of an economic trough which, according to current estimates, will last about a year and a half,” Tiefensee said on Thursday in Erfurt. He was reacting to the autumn report, according to which Germany is heading into a recession. According to this, Germany will not return to economic growth until 2024.
Tiefensee asked the federal government to introduce the gas price cap and the electricity price brake immediately, at least at national level. In addition, the aid programs for the economy would have to be launched quickly. By the end of October at the latest, there should be clarity about the planned relief and the disbursement of financial aid should begin this year. Tiefensee: “If politics and business act quickly together now, a massive economic slump and the worst consequences for households in Germany can still be prevented.”
The report points to a massive loss of purchasing power in private households, which will intensify over the course of the next year. Most companies, on the other hand, could still cope quite well with the energy price shocks.
For 2022 as a whole, the experts still expect small economic growth of 1.4 percent due to the better first half of the year, for 2023 they predict a decline in economic output by 0.4 percent. Gas prices are the decisive factor that will drive the German economy into recession. The highest energy prices for consumers are expected in the middle of next year. However, the institutes do not expect a gas shortage.
