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Schroeder touts reforms, urged to resign

BERLIN, March 25 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told parliament Thursday his reforms have already improved the German economy, but the opposition said he should resign.

"Germany is considerably better off than it was 12 months ago," Schroeder said, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

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Schroeder said Germany's economic stagnation has ended and the country's economy is growing for the first time in three years.

Angela Merkel, head of the opposition Christian Democrats, said, however, Schroeder is out of touch with reality and called on him to step down as chancellor.

Schroeder's Agenda 2010 economic and labor reform package has drawn controversy from all sides in Germany. Merkel and other conservatives say the plans do not go far enough, while some members of Schroeder's Social Democratic Party and others on left consider the proposals too invasive.

Schroeder and his party have done poorly in recent polls and regional elections.

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