Merz Says Tackling Germany’s Economic Woes Tougher Than Expected

Friedrich Merz speaks at the state party conference of the CDU Lower Saxony, Aug. 23.

Photographer: Hauke-Christian Dittrich/picture alliance/Getty Images

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said tackling the country’s economic challenges is proving to be a far greater undertaking than he initially anticipated.

“I say this also self-critically — this task is bigger than one or the other may have imagined a year ago,” Merz said in a speech in the northern German town of Osnabrueck on Saturday. “We’re not just in a period of economic weakness, we are in a structural crisis of our economy.”