According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the energy crisis in Europe is not yet over. “I believe that we are not out of the woods yet and that energy prices could rise again,” IMF Vice President Gita Gopinath told the “Handelsblatt”. Energy markets are “still volatile, as we saw recently when OPEC cut oil production and prices picked up again.” Expensive energy is having a negative impact on the German economy, stressed Gopinath. “For an industrial nation with a strong manufacturing sector, that makes a big difference.”
Regarding the German federal government’s decision to shut down the last nuclear power plants despite the tense situation, the economist said that energy policy is a national matter. However, it is crucial that “every country has sufficient reserves and resilience in the energy supply to be able to react to shocks and a tense geopolitical situation”.
