Growth initiative only the first step, says German finance minister

Plans from the German government to stimulate the economy are just the beginning of the process to start growth, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Monday.

"The German government's growth initiative is a first step towards enabling an upturn, but we have to build on it," he said.

"The German economy is treading water. We cannot be satisfied with the economic development. We have a structural change that is combined with a loss of competitiveness," he added.

The German finance minister was speaking ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg to discuss the European Union's economic growth and competitiveness.

Germany's economy, while struggling, is the largest in the EU - but it has struggled to cope with the economic fallout of the Ukraine war, changing trade patterns with China and high energy costs.

These problems have created a drag on the wider EU economy. The German coalition government has laboured to get the country's economic performance back on track amid poor polling.

The German government's growth initiative includes new rules on tax write-offs for companies. However, not all measures have been finalized by the Cabinet.

Change could also still be made in the German parliament.

Plans for tax incentives for skilled labour from abroad are also controversial which could be blocked in the German parliament as they would lead to lower tax revenue for the German federal states.