This year began with renewed optimism that Germany might finally emerge from its longest period of economic stagnation since the second world war. In February, Friedrich Merz, leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, won federal elections after campaigning on a pledge to revitalise Europe’s largest economy. His coalition with the centre-left Social Democratic party promised a more functional government than the fractious one it replaced. In March, Germany’s parliament approved plans to ease the constitutionally enshrined “debt brake”, allowing the government to establish a €500bn fund to rebuild infrastructure and increase defence spending. Several months on, however, the early hope of rapid economic renewal is beginning to fade.
今年伊始，人們?cè)俅螛?lè)觀地認(rèn)為，德國(guó)或許終于能走出自二戰(zhàn)以來(lái)最長(zhǎng)的經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯期。2月，中右翼基民盟領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人弗里德里希?默茨(Friedrich Merz)在聯(lián)邦選舉中獲勝，他以振興歐洲最大經(jīng)濟(jì)體為競(jìng)選承諾。他與中左翼社會(huì)民主黨組成的聯(lián)合政府承諾將建立一個(gè)比之前內(nèi)訌不斷的政府更加高效的政府。3月，德國(guó)議會(huì)批準(zhǔn)放松憲法確立的“債務(wù)剎車”，允許政府設(shè)立一只規(guī)模達(dá)5000億歐元的基金，用于重建基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施并增加國(guó)防開(kāi)支。然而，數(shù)月過(guò)去，關(guān)于經(jīng)濟(jì)迅速?gòu)?fù)蘇的早期希望正開(kāi)始消退。