BERLIN, Nov. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel listed major economic and social foes that Germany faces to the parliament on Wednesday.

    In her first speech addressing the parliament on the government's major policies, Merkel said economic growth had been sluggish for years, debts had risen to "terrifying heights", and the progress in the formerly communist east had come to a halt.

    She vowed that her grand coalition government, formed by her Christian Democrats and the former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats, would put the country's federal system in order.

    She also pledged to "lead our schools and universities back to the top,", as German education is lagging behind competitors.

    "We want to cut our debts and to restructure our health, pensions and care system. Nobody can stop us but ourselves," she said,

    She urged Germans to have the courage to allow greater freedom to ensure faster economic growth.

    Merkel painted a bright hi-tech future for her country on the basis of improved education, as well as more investment in research.

    She also promised to help the entrepreneurial middle class through reform business taxes to make the motor of Germany's export sector more competitive.

    Merkel, the first female chancellor in German history, praised Schroeder highly for his reform policies, saying he had "opened the door to restructuring our social systems for the new era".

    This is the first address Merkel made to the parliament to explain her government's policies since she took office on Nov. 22. Enditem