German Finance Minister: Expect Good Growth in 2021, Maybe Better Than Many Think

6 May 2021

By David Barwick – Frankfurt (Econostream) – German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Wednesday indicated that strong economic growth in Germany would make another stimulus package unnecessary.

In an interview with German business daily Handelsblatt, Scholz, asked if Germany needed another economic stimulus package this summer, replied, ‘Our policy is already very expansionary. I expect good growth this year, perhaps even better than many believe.’

Economic support related to the pandemic should be extended again, he said, as should the regulation on short-time work. ‘Even if the pandemic is largely over by the summer, many people will still need support this year’, he said. ‘And they should get it.’

Scholz declared that ‘we can all say with relief that international tax dumping is coming to an end. We have a great opportunity to agree on a global minimum tax this summer.’

As for the possibility that Germany would nevertheless have to reduce its 30% tax burden to be more in line with the minimum tax rate of 21% under discussion, Scholz said he saw ‘no reason for that at all’, noting that British and American tax rates would also be above 21%.

Decreasing Covid-19 case numbers ‘give us hope’, he said. ‘We are not quite out of the woods yet, but the goal is in sight.’

Already this week there would be an ordinance easing the restrictions imposed on those vaccinated, he said.