Thousands of the small and midsize companies that form the backbone of the German economy warned this week that the country was losing its edge, as the country’s central bank signaled the threat of a recession would loom over Germany in the first three months of 2024.
“Every day, Germany is losing its ability to remain internationally competitive,” read an open letter to the government signed by 18 associations representing the businesses, in industries ranging from technology to trucking to taxi companies.
But the sweeping statement ticked off a list of concerns facing businesses, including high energy prices, labor shortages, slow efforts to digitize the bureaucracy and high taxes.
Those strains are reflected in a report released on Monday by Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, which said that the country’s economy, Europe’s largest, was poised to shrink in the first three months of the year.
After a contraction of 0.3 percent in the final months of 2023, a second consecutive decline would land the country in a technical recession.
Organizations:
Germany’s
Locations:
Germany, “