German employers' union calls on government to take action on "possible economic crisis"

The German Employers' Federation has called on the German government to take precautionary measures against a possible economic crisis.

"We must not ignore the signs of slowdown in economic activity.The industrial sector is still engaged in many old contracts, but it lacks a new batch of contracts," said Saturday the president of the company. EU, Ingo Kramer, at the German newspaper Basauer Neue Presse. For the newspaper "Middle East".

Kramer called for speeding up the implementation of already planned public investments without extending their implementation due to long-term licensing procedures, stressing the need to ease economic circles instead of 39, to establish new bureaucratic rules, and declared: "I request the lifting of the charges on the German economy".

Kramer called for the preparation of the application of the reduction of working time, said: "The mechanism of prolonged reduction of work was maintained during the financial crisis ten years ago on hundreds of thousands of years. 39 jobs and led to the stability of our economy, the ruling coalition must now make decisions to implement this order, so as not to Long-term legislative action is needed in times of crisis. "

In Germany, economic activity has recently slowed down, with industrial production falling in the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter.

The German economy is currently suffering the effects of international economic conflicts, Brexit fluctuations and a structural change in the car industry.

The International Monetary Fund predicted at the end of July that the economic growth rate of Germany would be 0.7% and 1.7% next year, while the German Institute for Economic Research (DW) ) projected a growth rate of 0.9% this year and 1.7% for 2020. As expected in mid-June.

Data released on Friday showed that the momentum of German exports slowed in the first half of 2019 and displayed a surprisingly opposite trend in June, adding to the signs of widespread weakness of an increasingly dependent economy. domestic demand for weak growth.

The slowdown in global growth as well as trade disputes and fogging around Brexit have affected the growth of all of Western Europe, but the German, traditionally export-oriented, largest economy in the continent, has been particularly vulnerable.

The impact of these unfavorable factors has been dissipated by stimulus measures taken in the country, where a record number of jobs, higher wages than inflation and lower borrowing costs have led to a boom in the economy. consumption and construction sectors.

That did not, however, prevent Germany's gross domestic product, according to preliminary data on Wednesday, from joining the continent's second largest economy, in contraction for three months, until June.

Reflecting a split in external and domestic conditions, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Friday that Germany's trade surplus had risen from 122.4 billion euros to 109.9 billion euros in June, imports rose 3% and export growth to 0.5% compared to the previous half.

In June, exports fell 0.1% from May, while they declined 8% in one year, the largest annual decline in almost three years. The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it expects exports to stagnate in 2019 as a whole.

Data showed Friday that the six-month current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods, services and investment, fell to 126.4 billion euros, compared with 130, 6 billion euros. But this level remains above the reference level set by the European Commission at 6% of GDP, where the surplus has stabilized since 2011.