Eurozone core must focus on investment: New EU growth czar

Jyrki Katainen told Reuters many countries have cut investment too much as part of efforts to consolidate budgets

"Countries like Germany, running current account surpluses, can afford to invest more, not only because it would stimulate the economy of the European Union, but because they need to take care of their future economic growth," Katainen said in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank fall meetings in Washington.

German investment has been falling steadily over the past two decades, from around 21 per cent of its GDP in the late 1990s to just above 17 per cent now, according to an insight by Christian Odendahl of the Centre for European Reform think thank.