The state will stay out of business decisions - even if it helps companies with billions, says Peter Altmaier.
Berlin (dpa) - Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) has defended the billion dollar government aid for the German economy affected by the corona crisis.
The state had to prevent the loss of millions of jobs because the companies could not do it alone, Altmaier said in the evening in the ARD "Report from Berlin". It is important to him that there is no influence on business decisions.
"The state must stay out and the state will stay out. This applies in the medium and long term," emphasized the minister. "But it is just as important that we prevent millions of jobs from being lost because companies cannot do it and in other countries the state invests in precisely these companies on the other side, namely in companies in Asia, America and elsewhere."
If the German state does not intervene, this would mean shifting the global economic weights to the detriment of Germany. "And that is not justifiable in the interests of 83 million people in this country."