Fund managers and economists who track Germany rank tax cuts and banking sector reform as joint top of their wish list of issues for the next government to tackle, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
The respondents said a coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) would be best for the German economy. But most expect a re-run of the "grand coalition" that has ruled since 2005.
Germans vote in a federal election on Sunday.
Fifteen of 17 respondents said a coalition of Merkel's conservatives and the FDP would produce the best economic management, but just eight of 19 expected that scenario to become reality.
Eleven expected another "grand coalition" of the conservatives and SPD.
"Germany cannot continue to rely on others to provide its final demand through exports. Reforming the tax system will help in this regard if it reduces taxation on labour," said Dominic Bryant, economist at BNP Paribas.
Merkel's conservatives and the FDP both want to cut taxes, with the FDP pressing for a simplification of the tax system.
Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck, a Social Democrat (SPD), said last week raising sales tax on items subject to a lower rate could be discussed after the election.
Conservative lawmakers have also discussed raising the lower rate, though they stressed this could only be part of a trade-off to cut the standard rate.
Merkel's conservatives and the centre-left SPD have both committed to cutting the budget deficit, which could rise to double European Union limits next year.
Survey respondents feared the next government would rein in the budget deficit through tax hikes rather than spending cuts.
A conservative coalition with the FDP would be expected to focus more on spending cuts to consolidate the budget, rather than tax hikes.
Banking reform also loomed large in the poll.
"First and foremost the government has to get the economy back on track — and the banking sector still looks like the biggest risk," said Colin Ellis, economist at Daiwa, reflecting a widespread desire among respondents for banking sector reform.
The global financial crisis hit German banks hard. The government has thrown billions of euros in aid at the sector, and Steinbrueck has led a push for consolidation of the regional state-owned Landesbanks.
The FDP wants to sell state holdings in banks [ID:nL758659]
LONG-TERM CONCERNS
The biggest concern of the 23 survey respondents was that the next government would focus too much on short-term problems at the expense of long-term challenges like healthcare reform and seeking to tackle Germany's demographic problems.
Germany's population is shrinking and ageing, increasing the strains on public spending while the number of people paying taxes falls.
Some studies show it could dip below 70 million by 2050 from about 82 million, and be overtaken by France in the same timeframe.
(For a Factbox on long-term German political and economic challenges, click on [ID:nLG223384])
Attempts to raise Germany's birth rate by boosting parental benefits and extending childcare facilities have had little effect, with the average number of children women bear stuck below 1.4. Small families are now the social norm.
Dieter Wermuth of Wermuth Asset Management said Germany needed a new education policy, focused on training the unemployed for new jobs.
"The main long-term problem is the qualification of 'human capital'," he said.
