Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he expected Germany to escape recession, pointing to a subdued but upward trend in its and Europe’s economies. With the risk of trade conflicts and Britain’s looming European Union exit as a backdrop, recent data has pointed to a marked slowdown in Europe’s largest economy, which only just skirted a recession - defined as two successive quarters of contraction - at the end of last year. Scholz said he was confident that modest growth lay ahead. “The global, European and German data all point to a subdued but nonetheless upwards movement,” he told public broadcaster Inforadio on ... (full story)