Germany will suffer a further slowdown in growth to 0.5 per cent at most this year and should be ashamed of itself for not exploiting its huge potential, a top official of the DIHK business federation said today.
Mr Martin Wansleben, director general of the Federation of Chambers of Industry and Commerce, said a new survey showed firms saw no sign of a rapid recovery after growth of just 0.6 percent in 2001.
"They expect growth to pick up later this year, but without much momentum," he said. "Germany should be ashamed of how it is in the sleeping car at the back of the economic train."
"I know of no region in the world that has such potential in terms of skills and infrastructure," Mr Wansleben told a news conference.
He said a DIHK survey of 25,000 businesses in January - the largest regular economic survey in Germany - showed deepening gloom, falling capacity utilisation, and a tendency to invest that was even lower than during the 1993 recesssion.
Mr Wansleben blamed excessive health and social insurance contributions, an over-regulated job market and a lack of labour mobility.
He attacked the government for re-regulating the job market with legislation increasing employees' influence in company decision-making and extending rights to part-time working.
