PARIS: France’s economy minister said that Germany risked sliding into “balanced-budget fetishism” if Berlin doesn’t take steps to boost public investment in Europe’s languishing economy.
Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said the eurozone’s two largest economies needed more policy “convergence,” with France adopting more economic overhauls reforms and Germany relaxing its tight public spending.
“The risk facing Germany is a new form of conservatism, which is balanced-budget fetishism,” Mr. Macron told reporters.
A German finance ministry spokeswoman declined to comment.
The minister’s remarks are part of France’s long-running push to prod Germany to do more to stimulate the eurozone economy, which has been stricken with anemic growth for years.
Last year, Germany’s government posted its first balanced federal budget since 1969–a year ahead of schedule. The goal had been a cornerstone of the coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel and was one of the main promises in her 2013 election campaign. The government is aiming to have a balanced budget through to 2018.
