countries knew i am of the deal and what it means for getting the nation out of crisis. i'm steven beardsley in berlin. welcome to our show. here if largest economy should just skirt recession this year, that's according to a new expert assessment. the government's council of economic experts now saying the economy will grow 2 tenths of a percent this year due to a more stable energy supply. from an efforts to replace russian energy exports have gone better than expected. with market prices falling from last summer's highs. and the ongoing global banking crisis is not a threat to germany's economy. that's according to the forecast monica nestor is chair of the german council of economic experts which released that forecast and she joins me now. miss nestor, welcome to the show. we released a it from right, i think 40 page report this update to an assessment that you gave last fall. can you summarize for us as, as briefly as possible? how would you describe the state of europe's largest economy right now?

never really benefit from the midwinter. and so the increasing supply of thought, our native applies of energy in particular elegy in parts this has prod, energy prices thorn and we had benefiting from that. we are the benefits from the fact that china has stopped it's 0 coverage policy. so that has a lightened up the own prospects for exports a bit. and also it has ease the supply chain problems that are german manufacturers experience for a long time. so in a nutshell, the alt lock has pride and, but only a little bit because what still is a huge problem? it's inflation, this decreases purchasing power on the way just have not kept up with inflation so far. and so this is really dampening the economy as well as the

interest rates that have increased because of the easy b sa polity of cost on young, damp, and inflation. this also is a problem for investments. many experts have called this sticky inflation. that is, the general trend may be downwards, but it's hard to assess where exactly is moving, how fast it's moving up. do you feel like you have a good picture of how, where interest rates are going? does anyone have a good picture right now, given this kind of up and down that we're seeing with inflation where we expect inflation to can down over the year. but this will be helped by the interest rate increases at the p as in post. now the, the current ya period, in financial markets of cars, there is some demand to warn ya. perhaps not increase in dress rate as much anymore. perhaps to postpone it a bit at the moment. we don't see that this will be really necessary. it's rather

important to really fight inflation because then the economy will grow up. a guy will pick out growth, and that is what we expect for the next year. a speaking of inflation, we see a lot more labor union strikes over the past year because of inflation because we're fall in real wages. you mentioned that in your report, to what extent are we seeing a significant relationship between higher wage demands and rising prices? the so called a wage price spiral, where we have not seen this wage prize a spiral because the units have been in fact, really moderate with their wage demands. i mean, yes, of course they golf on strike and they ask for more for the next 2 years because they have a lot of catching up to do with the real wages have really decreased over the last 2 years. and so that is understandable. but exactly the plan that we just have not

increase so far, much yet is the reason why we don't see such a boost to inflation coming from wages. briefly, can we say that germany is out of the woods when it comes to the worst case scenarios? we picture last year at this point it looks rather upright, but on, of course the energy rises is not over yet. we will still have to deal with for next winter. so that means we will have to fill up the gas supplies on this will again, yeah, most likely have a regular rather boosting effect on energy prices. so it will take another year. so before we have all the supplies that we need from alternative sources, and that means we're not really out of the woods yet, but at the moment things are looking okay. alright, that's monica schnitzer, chair of the german council of economic experts. thank you. you're welcome.

or a moving on the i m f as okay. the 3000000000 dollar loan package to help sri lanka dig itself out of debt on the condition that tackles the corruption and economic mismanagement. the drove the country into crisis. after much anticipation, sri lanka is finally slated to receive a total of $3000000000.00 from the international monetary fund as part of its bailout package. the funds will help the country begin to dig its way out of its worst economic crisis and 7 decades. but the package has conditions, sri lanka must commit to tackling the corruption and economic mismanagement. that is to blame for the current situation. feeling good with the 1st a country in asia where the army from good, deep diagnostics on corruption and governance. and the report will come out in september which will provide a roadmap for what needs to be done in terms of improving governance and reducing corruption. last year, sri lankan took to the streets to demand accountability from their government to protest lead to the ousting of former president, go to buy

a raja park so his family had long been accused of stealing assets and driving the countries finances into the ground. under current president, ro, neil wicker m a singer, things seem to be stabilizing. sri lanka, central bank, says it's reserves have improved and that the black market no longer controls the foreign currency trade. and it's come at a cost to ordinary sri. lankan taxes have gone up. energy subsidies cut even with a bail out. the road to recovery will be long. mendecy warner is the secretary to the treasury of sri lanka and he joins me now for more. secretary, we want to thank you for joining us. getting this funding from the i m f took longer than expected. how crucial is it for your country? in fact, as you just saw, you know, i'm, if

a package has been very crucial. in fact, we were able to get it approved by the i m f executive board. yesterday. i just an important milestone. i mean, to talk to that she lancaster present situation. i don't have to explain the about the situation about one year ago. you know, people who are suffering a lot of you know and then choose for emergency supplies. there were other cards and notify the difficulties with and b, as the government took the decision to go to the i am a fan, get this, i look program. and as a result of, you know, very strong negotiations with the i'm if you were able to stop level agreements on september last year. but it took about 4 to 5 months to get it approved by that. i am bored and we were in fact barely working in 2 parts. one is to reform side and

also the bid restructuring assurance of financial issues aside. and we were very thankful to that. my little creditors, who i did some financial insurances for basically going with this, i can get it approved and we are going to if i tell you that this is very crucial in the in other countries, you touch on this briefly the i m f made tackling corruption, a key part of this package. what concrete steps as your country taking to address those concerns. in fact, actually corruption, isa he area of our country's progress. it is not only because of i am asking, but the government has been very serious on that. and it hasn't made, in fact, that it's kind of an over the reform. these forms are, will be implemented not only never see longer to overcome this crisis. but if you

said to see long on a new a for growth and prevent us from lead into crisis in the future. so in terms of, you know, these reforms that we are going to implement, particularly in tackling collection. or maybe we have taken vision to, you know, introduce and you could actually log in fact, that was approved by the cabinet i think just last week. and in addition to that, and they'll be, you know, governance related issues and proposals as well. right now i'm, if a mission is introlatta and they are basically, you know, going through all the aspects and we also very support the work that and after this, what is that, what out? and you basically implementing a good question and are there yes. happening again in 20 the prospect of privatizing state enterprises cutting back state subsidies. these prospects of already led to protests include taxation,

right, rising taxes. how are you going to win over the public with the, the details of this package which are going to require quite painful cut? in fact, if i tried to answer your question that i know similar space from revenue side, and we have been implementing revenue, raising your taxes in progress, humana. and then we know that some of the segments of their society have been affected. and we are very mindful about that. and then the same time we are in the process of, you know, i respect to the story as a source as well. but typically he said on enterprises, in the petroleum in the sector and also the airline. so those are the key areas and in addition in that by the $23.00 that was on mondays, which is also i to be restructured. so it's a, it's a pattern part of the entire reform effort. so we believe that it is reformed, although the are the some difficulties where to clearly live in the,

in the very short period. but going ahead that the size would be very positive so that you would be able to, you know, reduce or negative and negative implications. that are coming out of you know, as a result of the loss making and rises in the country. so in that way we have a for, to do and we are looking forward basically increment these reforms in a much shorter manner. melinda, sir wanda, is secretary to the treasury in sri lanka, thank you. now to some of the other global business stories making headlines, the international monetary fund has agree to a 15600000000 dollar funding deal for ukraine. making the 1st country at war to receive a loan from the international lender. the deals a staff level agreement and would be one of the largest financing packages that ukraine has received since it was invaded by its neighbor, russia inflation. the u. k. unexpectedly jumped to 10.4 percent in february. that's according to new official data. rise was driven by higher food

prices and price. your drinks and pumps restaurants. higher energy costs are a major contributor to swearing inflation. in 2022 you. his energy import costs reached a record 132000000000 euros. more than double double the prior year. and bob has launched a new 300 megawatt coal fired power plant to help ease power outages, blackouts, lasting as long as 19 hours have crippled businesses and households in recent months. new power plant is largely funded by a chinese state run company. as if russia, thanks for watching. ah ah. with

a neutral by 2045. germany's public transport system is going green. is it good by the old bus? sweet? no. there converting to electric energy which presents a technical challenge. is it worth it for the climate? absolutely. but what about for businesses made in germany? in 30 minutes on d. w with oh, hello guys. this is the 77 percent the platform with issues. hey share

idea you know, on these channels we are not afraid to talk to young people clearly have the solution, the future the 77 percent of every weekend and dw, sometimes a seed is all you need to allow big ideas to grow. we're bringing environmental conservation to life with learning packs like global ideas. we will show you how climate change and environmental conservation is taking shape around the world and how we can all make a difference. knowledge grows through sharing, download it now for free. these places in europe or smashing all the records step into

a bold adventure. it's the treasure map for modern globetrotters discover. some of you are record breaking sites on google maps, youtube and now also in book form. mm hm. ah ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin. the un sounds the alarm about the world's growing water crisis. we all need it. but the un says safe drinking water is already in short supply. and the problem is getting worse, not just where you think. but across the globe also coming off.