(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on late Thursday defended Germany against international criticism that it was not doing enough to reduce its high trade surpluses and rejected the idea that it should deliberately weaken its competitiveness.
Speaking in Berlin, Merkel said it was "absurd" to suggest German companies should reduce their quality or that wages in the export sector should be higher to weaken their competitive strengths , according to media reports.
"It cannot and should not be the case that anyone tries to weaken Germany's competitiveness artificially," Merkel said. International criticism has mounted that Europe's largest economy must do more to spur domestic demand and that its reliance on exports is hampering Europe's economic stability and hurting the global economy.
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