MOSCOW (Sputnik) — German Economy Minister and Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel labeled on Friday the day of the EU referendum in Britain a "bad day" for Europe.
Damn! Ein schlechter Tag für Europa. #EUref
— Sigmar Gabriel (@sigmargabriel) 24 июня 2016 г.
"Damn! A bad day for Europe. #EUref," Gabriel said in the Twitter posting.
On Thursday, the United Kingdom held a referendum on its membership of the European Union. Earlier on Friday, it was announced that most people voted to leave the bloc.
According to the German Institute for Economic Research, the direct effect of Brexit could reduce growth of German exports by 1 percentage point, or almost 15 billion euros (almost $17 billion), reducing the country's GDP growth by 0.5 percentage points in 2017 and by 0.1 percentage points this year.
Earlier in the week, a poll found that over a third of manufacturers in Germany feared that Brexit would have a negative impact on their business.
