BERLIN - German Economy Minister Robert Habeck wants to remedy weak growth in Europe's largest economy with a debt-financed investment fund and change course on its budget policy, according to a 14-page position paper released on Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund this week significantly downgraded its forecasts for Germany. No other major industrialized country is currently weakening as much. To remedy this, Habeck wants to introduce a multibillion-euro"Germany Fund" to modernise infrastructure and provide an"unbureaucratic" investment premium of 10% for all companies.
The investment premium would be offset against the company's tax liability. Unlike a simple improvement in writeoffs, companies that to do not make a profit at all, such as newly founded ones, would also receive the premium, wrote Habeck.