Germany

The liquidators of the Irish arm of failed German electronic payments group Wirecard are focusing their investigation into an almost €400 million fraud on four key areas, its creditors have been told, the Irish Times reported. In a report issued last week to creditors of Wirecard UK and Ireland Ltd, the joint liquidators, Ken Fennell and James Anderson of accountancy firm Deloitte, said they have completed two interim reports for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) on the Dublin-based company’s collapse.

A surge in coronavirus cases in Germany has led to a disappointing start to the Christmas season for retailers in Europe's biggest economy, the sector body said on Sunday, Reuters reported. A survey by the HDE retail association showed that only 20% of 350 companies asked were satisfied with Christmas sales so far. November and December are normally the strongest months of the year for retailers.

Health Minister Jens Spahn called on Tuesday for further restrictions as Germany's rate of coronavirus infections hit a record high and more politicians backed compulsory vaccinations, Reuters reported. The seven-day incidence rate jumped to 399.8 per 100,000 people on Tuesday, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed, the 16th straight day it has hit a record level. As the number of COVID-19 deaths in Germany nears 100,000, the United States advised on Monday against travel there.

The German economy is taking "a breather" as a lack of goods and labour as well as new restrictions designed to fight the coronavirus pandemic put an end to its recent boom, the country's central bank said on Monday, Reuters reported. The Bundesbank also warned that inflation in Europe's largest economy was likely to stay well above 3% for some time and upcoming wage negotiations should deliver large increases. Germany's economy boomed in the first half of the year as services reopened for business.

German prosecutors have widened their investigation at automotive supplier Continental AG to include former Chief Executive Elmar Degenhart and finance chief Wolfgang Schaefer, whose surprise departure was announced late on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The car parts maker is one of the manufacturers under investigation on suspicion of hiding illegal levels of pollution following a regulatory clampdown on toxic fumes triggered by Volkswagen's 2015 admission that it had cheated emissions tests.

Europe's third largest harbour, the German Port of Hamburg, reported a 2.9% hike in sea cargo in the first nine months of 2021 on Tuesday but warned that global transport chains would remain volatile for the rest of the year, Reuters reported. Global trade has been marred by logjams in container ports caused by disruptions from unexpected demand spurts, labour shortages and traffic snarl-ups amid the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis has weighed particularly heavily on Germany, which is Europe's largest economy and a keystone of international trade where one in four jobs depend on exports.

Germany's inflation rate will drop noticeably at the start of next year when the effects of one-off factors peter out, the economy ministry said on Monday, Reuters reported. A base effect resulting from last year's cut in value-added tax, part of the government's COVID-19 relief measures, has contributed to the current inflation rate of 4.5% - the highest since 1993. Its impact has been compounded by a sharp rise in prices for raw materials and a rise in energy prices.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG repaid the last of its 9 billion-euro ($10.3 billion) bailout ahead of schedule, paving the way for the German government to sell its stake in the airline group for a significant profit, Bloomberg News reported. A recovery in international travel and successful refinancing measures allowed the airline to return the taxpayer cash, it said in a statement Friday. The state stands to net close to $1 billion in profit once it sells its 14% holding over the next two years. “It was good business for the treasury,” German finance minister Olaf Scholz said in a statement.

Germany’s export-oriented economy used to be a reliable engine for pulling Europe out of slumps. Now, as the continent emerges from a pandemic torpor, Germany is lagging behind, the Wall Street Journal reported. German manufacturers are struggling to produce cars and factory equipment because of parts and labor shortages. They face surging energy prices that are making sky-high electricity bills even higher. And they must invest hundreds of billions of dollars over coming years to meet new clean-energy standards.

Germany’s future government plans to let the country’s pension system invest in the capital markets for the first time in what would be a small revolution in how Europe’s largest economy manages money for its growing ranks of retirees, Bloomberg News reported. Negotiators for the Social Democrats, Greens and the market-oriented Free Democrats are seeking to hammer out details that would allow the $400 billion pension system to start investing some of its reserves into stocks and bonds, which would bring it more in line with other advanced economies.