Serious warnings about the economy, energy and consumers from the German Minister of Finance Christian Lindner. He even speaks of a “threat of a serious economic crisis.”
The Minister of Finance Christian Lindner is preparing the Germans for difficult years through an interview in the ZDF heute journal. Christian Lindner predicts five years of economic hardship, setting far beyond the forecasts of previous months, the economic and energy consequences of the war in Ukraine and Germany.
“The German government’s first priority is to curb inflation. I’m afraid that in a few weeks and months we could be in a very worrying situation. In a situation in which we will not be able to be selective. “We will have shortages for about three to four, maybe five years,” the German minister said characteristically.
Risk of slipping into recession
Christian Lindner gave special weight to the explosion of energy and commodity prices, due to the pressure exerted by Russia, gradually closing the gas tap to Germany as well.
“The risk of an economic crisis must be taken very seriously because of rising energy prices, because of supply chain problems and because of inflation,” he said, stressing that inflation must stop, not only because businesses are under pressure, but also because ordinary citizens live “in fear of being able to survive.”
A return to coal but also to nuclear energy?
In the energy field, however, Christian Lindner sees the need to break the ideological “taboos” of previous decades, as he characteristically said. In the context of the urgent search for alternative energy sources based on the detachment from the Russian natural gas, Christian Lindner first sees four main pillars:
First, investments in renewable energy sources. Secondly, the import of liquefied natural gas through the terminals under construction in northern Germany. Third, the exploitation of oil and gas fields in the North Sea. Fourth, the return to coal, without also ruling out on a personal level at least – regardless of the opinion of the other two parties in the government – the further exploitation of the three active nuclear power plants.
Regarding the use of nuclear energy in the coming years, he even said: “At least one should consider the possibility. And this beyond the ideology, because of the extremely increased energy sources “.
Dimitra Kyranoudi, Berlin
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