Hi there, I'm Ed Butler. This is Business Daily on the BBC World Service. Today, at a shaky time for the world's third largest economy, we have a special interview with the president of its central bank. His name, Joachim Nagel.

I think we are living in a stagnating economy, the forecast of my institution for this year

economic growth by around 0.2%. So this is not good. Yes, once a beacon for economic strength

and stability, Germany is now struggling after five years of stagnation. And now it's facing the

prospect of US tariffs as well.

This is not a good timing. I hope that there is the understanding within the Trump administration,

that the price that has to be paid is the highest on the side of the Americans.

Yes, there are many economic challenges ahead, but is there also light

at the end of the tunnel for Europe's economic powerhouse?

We have a strong economic basis. We have strong, small and medium-sized companies. I'm really

confident that Germany is doing better in the next years. Fixing Germany's ailing economy,

that's the Bundesbank Chief Joachachim Nagel, here on Business

Daily from the BBC.

As the United States are applying tariffs worth $28 billion, we are responding with countermeasures

worth $ billion euros.

This matches the economic scope of the tariffs of the United States.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission,

announcing there the retaliatory measures that Europe is threatening

in response to President Donald Trump's recent tariffs

on imports of steel and aluminium. For Germany, Europe's largest economy, this is a big deal.

From cars to pharmaceuticals to electronic goods, Germany alone exports some $170 billion worth of

stuff to the US every year. And the threat of trade war

...