FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German economy minister Peer Steinbrueck said the country’s economy is ‘not in a recession,’ according to Stern magazine.

‘There are downward risks that I do not underestimate,’ Steinbrueck told the magazine in an interview published on its website.
But he said he will contradict anyone who talks about looming recession, adding the German government has no plans to launch a package of measures to boost economic growth.
Germany’s economy in the second quarter shrank 0.5 percent from the first quarter, which was the first time since the third quarter of 2004 that GDP declined.
Concerns that the German economy may stagnate has prompted some leading politicians to urge the government to launch a multi-billion euro tax package to stimulate the economy.
“Short-term economic programs just burn money,” Steinbrueck told the magazine. “I’d like to remind you of what happened in the 70s and 80s. Debt rose, and the decline came anyway.”
Steinbrueck stressed that Germany’s economy is in better shape now than it was five years ago, adding it is ‘better than the British, the American, or the Japanese’ economies.