Germany rejects US criticism on growth model

  Germany rejected US criticism on its export-driven economic growth model on Thursday, saying the trade surplus showed strong competitiveness of the German economy. US criticism is "not understandable," the federal economy ministry said in a statement. "The current account surpluses are an expression of the strong competitiveness of the German economy and the international demand for quality products from Germany." The statement said the main pillar of growth in Germany was domestic economic forces. The United States Treasury's semi-annual report released on Wednesday said that Germany's dependence on exports hampered economic stability in Europe as many other eurozone countries have been under pressure to curb demand and compress imports. "The net result has been a deflationary bias for the euro area, as well as for the world economy," it said in the report. The U.S. urged Germany to boost demand and rely less on exports. The German government predicted earlier this month that German exports would grow only by 0.3 percent this year due to a "fragile" global economy and "muted but improving" demand from its key markets, especially emerging economies. It forecasts that exports would grow by 3.8 percent next ye