Olaf Scholz’s sacking of his finance minister has plunged Europe’s largest economy into considerable uncertainty

Germany’s three-way coalition, the “traffic light” alliance of centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and free-market liberal Free Democratic party (FDP), has collapsed after three years, following a lengthy dispute over how to stop a multibillion-euro hole in next year’s budget, plunging Europe’s largest economy into a period of considerable uncertainty.