German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the push to achieve climate neutrality by 2045 will bring a new economic golden age but some experts are sceptical about seeing any short-term benefits.BERLIN - Having dipped into recession at the beginning of the year, Germany looks set to finish the year in the red -- and at the back of the pack among its eurozone competitors.
Soaring inflation, painful interest rate rises, a sluggish recovery in its key export market China, and high energy costs are all weighing on activity."We currently see the country faced by a growing mountain of challenges," said Siegfried Russwurm, head of the influential BDI industry lobby. Relatively sluggish growth of less than one percent awaits Germany over the next few years, the country's main economic institutes predict.