STORY: After the publication of the annual economic report, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck confirmed his cautiously optimistic outlook for the current year. Habeck spoke on Thursday in the German Bundestag: “The figures that we presented yesterday, in the annual economic report, are not good, but they are far better than we had to fear a few weeks ago. We have made this crisis manageable. We have broke the trend of inflation.” The deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group Jens Spahn contradicted Habeck. In view of the forecast inflation, he sees no trend reversal: “Almost eight percent inflation in 2022, six percent – where you see a trend reversal, that’s the second highest inflation, at least for my age, in my lifetime here on earth. That’s 14 percent in two years. For an average earner, that’s about € 500 less per month that he has at his disposal. That’s the biggest socio-political task that currently exists in Germany. Because inflation, that’s robbery of the little man. And I would have liked that , if you had said more on this topic here instead of praying it sane with trend reversal.” Leif-Erik Holm, deputy parliamentary group leader of the AfD, spoke of a “social destruction program” with regard to the increased inflation: “With six percent inflation, if we calculate the energy relief on credit, we are at 7.5 percent. In the savings account there maybe 1 percent if things are going well. That means five or six percent depreciation every year for the little savings we have. In addition, everything is becoming more expensive in the supermarket. It’s a social destruction program and they haven’t done anything about it so far.” The co-chairman Amira Mohamed Ali spoke for the parliamentary group Die Linke. She also warned of the consequences of inflation: “The German Tenants’ Association warns that households up to the middle class will no longer be able to pay their housing costs if the heating bill for last year is delivered.” On Wednesday, Habeck had already expected slight growth for the German economy this year – despite the energy crisis and high inflation. Gross domestic product should increase by 0.2 percent in 2023, according to Habeck, citing the annual economic report. A decline of 0.4 percent was still expected in the autumn.