Germany’s Schaeuble has spoken out against the low interest rates

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned against continued low interest rates in the euro area. "In the long term effects of low interest rates or even negative is harmful" - he said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. At the same time he believes that to complete a soft monetary policy is possible only through the implementation of structural reforms and investment growth.

The era of low interest rates could last for quite some time, writes Deutsche Welle. Economist Peter Bofinger expects this in the next five years. "Low interest rates can be kept for a long time in Japan, they have been around for over 20 years." - Martin Hellwig, director of the Bonn Institute of the Max Planck Society.

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank lowered its key interest rate to 0 percent in March 2016. Germany criticized the ECB's policy. Earlier Schaeuble has repeatedly said that it leads to an increase in the number of eurosceptics. A deputy chairman of the CDU / CSU in the Bundestag Hans-Peter Friedrich said that the next head of the ECB will be a German.