	bangemann calls for currency calm west german economics minister martin bangemann urged a halt to the talking down of the dollar by both official and private institutions in the u s saying calm was needed on the foreign exchanges speaking at the opening of the th hanover industry fair bangemann said radical changes in foreign exchange parities had left their mark on exports and investments he added that without these external difficulties west germany s economy would have grown by pct last year instead of the pct reported bangemann said he could not deny that the economic climate in west germany had cooled but he stressed the country was not in a downtrend the minister also criticised state subsidies which he said mainly favoured large companies and created a tax burden for smaller and medium sized firms bangemann referred specifically to subsidies in the steel industry which he said had to be fought with all legal means when they did not correspond to european community guidelines on grants he added that in light of the declining demand for steel capacities had to be adjusted saying the bonn government would not successfully be able to stand in the way of any change in this industry bangemann also spoke out against protectionism and called for more competition citing as an example the federal post office the post office enjoys a monopoly in west germany especially as far as deciding who is able to provide telecommunications equipment reuter 
