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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany's deputy chancellor is urging eurozone governments to invest more to spur the economy and take some of the burden off the European Central Bank.
Sigmar Gabriel, who is also the country's economy minister, warned against criticism of the ECB for its massive stimulus measures involving buying bonds with newly printed money. The measures have been attacked as excessive by some conservative German politicians, who complain that resulting low interest rates have dried up returns to savers.
Social Democrat Gabriel said at a news conference in Berlin on Wednesday that "a central bank alone cannot solve the growth crisis, it cannot make up for the lack of an aggressive investment policy" in the 19 countries that share the euro.
He added that "printing money is not a sustainable economic policy."
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