"There is no reason for pessimism about the economy," the economics ministry said in a statement.

But there was no immediate indication whether he would also lose the Economics Ministry.

The Economics Ministry said the freezing weather depressed the nation's building industry.

The German economics ministry said today that it was prepared to provide credit guarantees to soccer teams to keep them afloat.

But by law, weapons exports must be approved by the Economics Ministry.

Today's action was only the seventh time in three decades that the German economics ministry has exercised its right to overrule the antitrust office.

Germany's economy probably shrank in the fourth quarter of 1995 but growth should resume this year, the Economics Ministry said yesterday.

The Economics Ministry said in a report yesterday that the economy probably shrank in the first quarter.

The Bank of Italy said the economics ministry had failed to let it know about problems at Parmalat.

According to the preliminary data published by the economics ministry, foreign orders rose 2.6 percent and domestic orders 1.1 percent from July.