LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - FOG ON THE RHINE. Germany’s first major post-virus pay deal is a disappointment for workers and the European Central Bank. IG Metall, the country’s largest trade union, on Tuesday agreed a 2.3% wage hike with employers in North Rhine-Westphalia for the period up to October 2022. As in other years, the settlement will be a benchmark for metalworkers in Europe’s largest economy. Citi analysts calculate that the annual pay increase for 2021 works out at a measly 1.5%, following no pay growth last year. An increase closer to the 4% seen in 2018 and 2019 would have helped ECB President Christine Lagarde’s fight to boost persistently low inflation. It’s also a knock for Germany’s post-pandemic economic model. The government’s recent spending splurge raised the prospect of a country less reliant on exports and more on domestic demand. A miserly pay hike for a key sector looks like a step backwards. (By Liam Proud)