Germany Strikes Back at U.S. Criticism Over Economic Policy

Source: Bloomberg

By Patrick Donahue - Oct 31, 2013

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government hit back at a U.S. Treasury Department report criticizing Germany for running extended surpluses, defending the export boom as a sign of the nation’s strong economy.

The U.S. report targeted Germany for maintaining a current-account surplus throughout the four-year-old European debt crisis and said policy makers hadn’t done enough to bolster domestic demand, delaying a resolution to the crisis.

“The criticism is not justified,” the German Economy Ministry said today in an e-mailed statement in Berlin. “The current-account surpluses are a sign of the competitiveness of the German economy and global demand for quality products from Germany.”

The spat over economic policy coincides with the diplomatic fallout over U.S. spying on allies and the possible tapping of Merkel’s mobile phone. The chancellor dispatched a team of officials to the White House yesterday to begin repairing political damage following the spy disclosures.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-31/germany-strikes-back-at-u-s-criticism-over-economic-policy.html