This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Berlin • The head of Germany's central bank says higher wages would be justified in the country as the economy flourishes and inflation sags, and is putting the potential for raises at 3 percent.
Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann told Wednesday's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily it is "in the nature of things and to be welcomed that wages rise more strongly than in times when the German economy was in significantly worse shape."
Weidmann stressed that wage deals have to take account of individual industries' situations, and that the bank isn't interfering in pay negotiations.
Bundesbank officials, who traditionally have tended to advocate modest pay settlements, have started sounding a different note this month. That comes as the 18-nation eurozone grapples with an inflation rate that is too low — just 0.5 percent in June, compared with the target level of just below 2 percent.
Germany's Federal Statistical Office estimated Wednesday that the annual inflation rate in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, slipped to 0.8 percent in July from 1 percent in June.
Weidmann said it is important for wage negotiators to take account of "the aim of price stability" in the current situation, but that raises which go far beyond "a productivity-oriented increase" would be harmful.