The boss of German reinsurance and finance giant Munich Re plans to call for German politicians to push through far-reaching economic reforms in a speech on Wednesday.
Munich Re chief executive Joachim Wenning laments the stagnation of industrial production in Germany and an increasing outflow of capital for investments abroad in the speech, the text of which was published in advance.
Wenning is scheduled to deliver the remarks at Munich Re's annual general meeting later on Wednesday.
The text of Wenning's speech calls for changes akin to the Agenda 2010 set of labour market and social welfare reforms passed in the early 2000s under then-chancellor Gerhard Schröder, a Social Democrat (SPD).
"Germany needs a comprehensive turnaround programme. This includes the courage to make unpopular decisions," according to the text of the speech.
The comments are unusually direct in addressing German domestic politics for Munich Re's leadership. Like many other large companies, the reinsurer's top management traditionally keeps a low profile when it comes to political commentary.
In recent years, however, dissatisfaction in Germany's business community has increased significantly.
Criticism from top business leaders has not only focused on the ambitious and costly climate and social-welfare proposals from the centre-left coalition government led by Social Democrats and Greens.
Business leaders have also criticized the opposition centre-right CDU/CSU bloc and the smallest coalition party, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), for vehemently opposing new debt.
Wenning, for example, also argued that the German government must take on higher levels of new debt, at least temporarily, in order to strengthen investment and economic competitiveness.
