German finance minister sees higher mid term growth, pledges to counter far-right rise

Germany’s finance minister predicted a higher level of growth in the mid-term in Germany and said his party would counter the rise of the far-right by tackling the problems that strengthened it, speaking to Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Christian Lindner welcomed the German parliament’s decision earlier in the day that the country does not need to suspend its brake on raising debt, and said he could currently not envisage a situation where that would be necessary.

“I can currently not imagine anything that would justify that,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Asked about the rise in popularity of Germany’s far right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Lindner said it was important to look at the trigger points that boosted the party’s support and counter them.

“The best way to make right-wing populists who have become big small again is to make the problems that strengthened the party small,” Lindner said, listing foreign policy failings, overly detailed bureaucracy, and unaffordable energy prices.