Merkel to step down before end of term if re-elected - Stern

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - According to an article in the German magazine Stern, German Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to retire from politics in 2016 if she is re-elected in September. That would mean her stepping down one year before the end of the 4-year term.

Government spokesman Georg Streiter denied the rumor saying that the Stern article was "completely unfounded" and cited an interview Merkel gave to the Bild newspaper in April in which she said: "I want to continue the center-right coalition and work for our country and its people as chancellor for the full legislative period."