One of Germany's biggest "locusts" has praised the speed and efficiency with which the country is handling its economic problems.

Bruno Scherrer, European head of Lone Star, the private equity group that has been the biggest buyer of so-called distressed debt in Germany, said: "As long as the country doesn't fall into some kind of complacency - and I don't see that - it's really going to turn around fast. There aren't many countries I would be so confident about in continental Europe."