- Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Finance Minister
The streak of negative news from Germany continues to disappoint markets and European officials. Monday data from Destatis showed producer prices in the Euro zone's number one economy booked another month of decline in September. The headline annual PPI slid 1% following the previous month's drop of 0.8%, while on a monthly basis, PPI was 0.0% in the reported month compared to the 0.1% decline in the previous month. In order to prop up growth in the Euro area's flagman, and improve its competitiveness, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that he plans to increase investment spending, but at the same time he will continue striving to achieve a balanced budget next year for the first time since 1969. Affected by the geopolitical crisis abroad, an ailing Euro zone and feeble domestic demand, Germany has cut its growth forecasts to 1.2% in 2014 and 1.3% in 2015 from 1.8% and 2.0%, respectively. Meanwhile, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said France would cut the deficit at a rate, which ensures a fragile recovery is maintained, while Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is sure the European Commission will not decline Paris's budget for 2015, despite the fact that it breaks EU deficit limits. France admitted earlier this month it would not be able to bring its deficit within the Euro zone's 3% of national GDP limit until 2017, four years later than promised. The ECB has started to buy short-term French covered bonds to boost economy and inflation.
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