FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel is calling for urgent acceleration of reforms in Germany and across Europe. “We need to move beyond the modus vivendi of analysis,” Nagel demanded at a Bundesbank conference in Frankfurt. “We need to get into the doing. We need to become much, much faster in implementation; we are too weak when it comes to execution.” This, he emphasized, applies to both Germany and Europe.
“Something needs to happen,” Nagel stressed. Both the capital markets and energy markets in Europe remain far too fragmented. “You can tell: I’m starting to get impatient on this issue,” said the Bundesbank President. The goal, he explained, is to bring people together, to close ranks more tightly, also within Europe. The answer to current challenges cannot be less Europe, “the answer is more Europe, to make ourselves more effective,” Nagel said.
The German government has paved the way for billions to be invested in infrastructure and defense over the coming years. “The money is there, now Germany must also show that it has the courage to implement bold projects,” Nagel said. “We should consider – now, when speed is of the essence – whether we should establish a dedicated legal framework for a specific portion of these investments.”
Allianz CEO: End Promises That Cannot Be Kept
Oliver Bäte, CEO of insurance giant Allianz, appealed to the federal government to deliver on its planned initiatives. For example, he noted, there is still no clear plan for how the vast sums of private capital can be harnessed for infrastructure investment.
Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing shares this view regarding the massive billions the state intends to invest in infrastructure in the coming years: “It is extremely important that we show foreign investors and the capital markets: Things are happening here.” Only then, he argued, will it be possible to attract additional capital from abroad to Germany.
Allianz chief Bäte cautioned that the state cannot permanently spend more money than it takes in. “I hope the conservatives have now realized that constantly buying votes with promises that cannot be kept is, at least for now, over. Now we need to convince the Social Democrats,” the Allianz CEO said.