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Federal Minister of Finance of Germany Jorg Kukies during a meeting of the Economic and Finance Ministers of the European Union within the framework of the Eurogroup at the European Council in Brussels in Belgium on 9 December 2024.
Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas | Afp | Getty Images
It is crucial that Germany embarks on a period of economic growth, the country's finance minister Jörg Kukies told CNBC on Thursday, adding that structural weaknesses must be addressed.
"We've just gotten revised down growth forecasts for the IMF again," Kukies told CNBC's Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick at the World Economic forum in Davos.
"The structural weaknesses of our economy absolutely have to be addressed," he added. "It's really important that we embark on a path of economic growth."
Kukies became Germany's finance minister in November, taking over from Christian Lindner who was sacked by Chancellor Olaf Scholz after months of wrangling and clashes over the economy and budget.
Lindner's dismissal effectively brought an end to the former German ruling coalition, which was made up of Scholz' Social Democratic Party, Lindner's Free Democratic Party and the Green party. This, in turn, saw Germany's national election moved forward to Feb. 23.
"The election is all about economics," Kukies added.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.