FILE PHOTO: German Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz delivers a speech during a roundtable with the theme 'International seminar on digital economy and social development' at Renmin University in Beijing, China, 17 January 2019. Wu Hong/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German finance minister Olaf Scholz on Thursday warned Germans to prepare for a hard Brexit, and said that European authorities would aim to minimize the risks of Britain withdrawing from the European Union without a deal.

“We want to ensure that, even in the case of a hard Brexit, there is no danger to the stability of individual institutions or to the financial system as a whole,” Scholz said at a reception.