In a move derided by opponents as 'unpatriotic', the German government has decided to shift the October 3 unification day holiday to a Sunday in order to bolster its economy.
Economy Minister Wolfgang Clement today confirmed the move, which will effectively cut the number of public holidays in Germany by one.
'It's an important signal that Germany is gathering its strength to give the economy a boost,' Clement said.
'Nobody would lose anything if the holiday was moved to Sunday. We will still have a day on which we can reflect on what we have in common as a nation,' he said, adding that the importance of the day had not suffered this year, when October 3 happened to fall on a Sunday.
The change is part of a range of measures to boost the economy that Finance Minister Hans Eichel is due to unveil later today. Other likely measures include a securitisation of future pension payments from former state monopolies Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post and a possible freeze in civil servants' pay.
Shifting the holiday, which was introduced after East and West Germany were reunited on October 3, 1990, will give Germany one extra working day, potentially boosting growth by 0.1 percentage point, according to economists' estimates.
However Clement said the government had not included the effect in its latest economic forecasts.After stagnating in the past three years amid weak consumer spending fuelled by high unemployment, Europe's largest economy is expected to grow by around 1.8% this year and the government has forecast GDP growth of 1.7% for 2005.
But it is struggling to meet European Union rules limiting budget deficits to 3% of gross domestic product, and risks breaching the cap for a fourth successive year in 2005.
The plan to change the holiday had been widely trailed in the German press and was criticised by some as disrespectful to the historic struggle for unification.
Germany has amongst the highest number of public holidays in Europe with some, mainly Catholic, states enjoying as many as 12 days a year. However Germany's federal system means that the government in Berlin has the power to change only two of these - the May 1 Labour holiday and unification day.
