IMF to urge Germany to invest more

09 May, 2016

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will urge Germany's coalition government to invest more when it publishes its latest economic assessment on Europe's biggest economy on Monday, Die Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported.
In its "Concluding Statement", the Washington-based IMF will also say Germany should not be happy with its current economic growth rate of 1.5 percent, the paper said.
Germany has faced international pressure to loosen its purse strings in recent months. In April, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Germany had failed to take advantage of cheap borrowing costs to boost investment essential to longer-term economic growth.
Although Germany has increased investment, the IMF will say there is room for more public spending, the newspaper said. This should help reduce Germany's large current account surplus and the euro zone's economy.
Berlin has faced international pressure before to boost economic demand at home to balance out its trade position, and its economy has become less reliant on exports for growth in recent years.
In addition, the IMF will criticise the government's pension reforms and say it must monitor the stability of the financial sector, in particular life insurance firms that are suffering under low interest rates, according to Die Welt.

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