BERLIN—The economic situation is deteriorating and the outlook is fragile in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, its finance minister said on Wednesday, defending his plans to raise income tax thresholds in response to soaring inflation.
The German economy stagnated in the second quarter, with the war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices, the pandemic, and supply disruptions bringing it to the edge of a downturn. Inflation is running at 8.5 percent.
