AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 129.06 Decreased By ▼ -0.47 (-0.36%)
BOP 6.75 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.05%)
CNERGY 4.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-3.02%)
DCL 8.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-4.36%)
DFML 40.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.87 (-2.09%)
DGKC 80.96 Decreased By ▼ -2.81 (-3.35%)
FCCL 32.77 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
FFBL 74.43 Decreased By ▼ -1.04 (-1.38%)
FFL 11.74 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (2.35%)
HUBC 109.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.97 (-0.88%)
HUMNL 13.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.81 (-5.56%)
KEL 5.31 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.48%)
KOSM 7.72 Decreased By ▼ -0.68 (-8.1%)
MLCF 38.60 Decreased By ▼ -1.19 (-2.99%)
NBP 63.51 Increased By ▲ 3.22 (5.34%)
OGDC 194.69 Decreased By ▼ -4.97 (-2.49%)
PAEL 25.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.53%)
PIBTL 7.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-3.52%)
PPL 155.45 Decreased By ▼ -2.47 (-1.56%)
PRL 25.79 Decreased By ▼ -0.94 (-3.52%)
PTC 17.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.96 (-5.2%)
SEARL 78.65 Decreased By ▼ -3.79 (-4.6%)
TELE 7.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.45 (-5.42%)
TOMCL 33.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.78 (-2.26%)
TPLP 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.66 (-7.28%)
TREET 16.27 Decreased By ▼ -1.20 (-6.87%)
TRG 58.22 Decreased By ▼ -3.10 (-5.06%)
UNITY 27.49 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.22%)
WTL 1.39 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.72%)
BR100 10,445 Increased By 38.5 (0.37%)
BR30 31,189 Decreased By -523.9 (-1.65%)
KSE100 97,798 Increased By 469.8 (0.48%)
KSE30 30,481 Increased By 288.3 (0.95%)

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has come under fire for his handling of the financial crisis after a series of public statements critics say have caused confusion about Berlin's response to the turmoil. Steinbrueck, the 61-year old deputy leader of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), has earned a reputation for straight-talking since taking over the finance portfolio in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition in 2005.
He made waves last month when he blamed the crisis on a US lust for profits and predicted an end to the era of American financial dominance in a fiery speech in the German parliament. But his shoot-from-the-hip style has led to rhetorical stumbles over the past weeks that have disconcerted investors and even aggravated German bank troubles, according to bankers.
Germany's leading financial dailies all criticised Steinbrueck's crisis management in prominent articles on Tuesday, with Handelsblatt's chief editor penning a front-page editorial calling his public appearances "psychological poison". "Steinbrueck needs to watch out that his rhetorical crosses don't result in own-goals," Bernd Ziesemer wrote.
Finance Ministry spokesman Torsten Albig, who has been at pains to explain the meaning of the minister's statements at regular government news conferences over the past week, said there was "no substance" to the criticism.
But politicians, bankers and corporate executives told Reuters on Tuesday they believed Steinbrueck had made serious communication errors since the crisis reached new heights in September, rattling German financial institutions. A former premier of Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, Steinbrueck has won plaudits for overseeing a consolidation of the German budget. Although widely seen as competent, he has never been known for his verbal discipline. Last week, after announcing a 35 billion euro rescue of Hypo Real Estate.

Copyright Reuters, 2008

Comments

Comments are closed.