Downing Street Says

Asked if the Prime Minister had a favourite foreign Finance Minister, the Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) replied that if this was a thinly veiled attempt to get him to comment on the German Finance Minister s remarks, the Prime Minister was asked a similar question in an interview with London s LBC Radio this morning, and gave the following quote I do not really want to get involved in what is clearly internal German politics here, because they have a coalition in Germany with different political parties. The important thing was that almost every country around the world is doing what we have been doing .

Asked if there was a further quote about the Germans actually doing what we had been doing, the PMS gave a further quote from the Prime Minister Actually the German Government was investing more. They have just announced a fiscal expansion so they can invest in public works, and helping with their banks, and doing these sorts of things .

Asked if the Prime Minister was surprised by the German Finance Minister s comments, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister said, he was not going to comment on the German Finance Minister s remarks directly, given that an aspect of this seemed to be motivated by German internal politics and the debate going on there about the economy.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that Chancellor Merkel shared the views of her Finance Minister, the PMS replied that he was not going to comment on German internal politics.

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Ed Balls this morning when he said that he believed Germany would eventually join the international consensus once they had sorted out the internal politics, the PMS replied that whether or not the Germans build on the measures that they had already taken and joined an international consensus, was a decision for the German Government.

Put that the Government had made it a point of policy to get as many countries as possible to follow its template, and asked if the Prime Minister believed that Germany agreed with this and was following his path, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had had detailed conversations with Chancellor Merkel, and we had been clear that whilst it was for every national Government to take its own decisions on most appropriate action for its economy, we believed that fiscal stimulus when coordinated would be the most effective way to stimulate global economic recovery.

Asked if the Prime Minister believed that what Germany had done so far met this criteria, the PMS replied that the point is was that countries were investing different amounts, and it was for each national Government to decide what was the appropriate amount. This was a decision for leaders of national governments.

Asked if we were saying that the German Government had done a little of the right thing, but not enough of the right thing, the PMS replied that he was not going to characterise this one way or another, but it was for the German Government to decide what was the right thing for the German economy.

Put that Newsweek magazine did not have a particularly big readership in Germany, and asked what made the Prime Minister think that the German Finance Minister s comments were directed at a German audience, the PMS replied that as Mrs Merton might have said, he was not going to speculate on what might have provoked the German Finance Minister to make such comments in an election year.

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» Thursday, December 11, 2008

Economy

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