And he warned of potential disaster in the eurozone thanks to struggling economies failing to pay back billions of euros in bail-out loans dished out after the 2007-2008 financial crash.
Mr Schäuble also took a shot at “foolish” Britain for voting to leave the European Union, and claimed the decision to leave had actually strengthened European integration.
The 75-year-old, who has served as Germany’s finance boss for eight years, is leaving the post to become speaker of the Bundestag, the German equivalent of the House of Commons.
Mr Schäuble was a key figure in Europe’s response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis which crippled EU economies including Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Greece.
The subsequent package of multi-billion euro bailouts provided to the Greek government – and the strict austerity conditions attached – earned him the derogatory nickname “Mr Nein” among Greek people.
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The Greek economy is finally on the road to recovery with growth of 1.8 per cent expected this year after seven years of recession and record high unemployment.
Mr Schäuble told the Financial Times: “Economists all over the world are concerned about the increased risks arising from the accumulation of more and more liquidity and the growth of public and private debt.
“I myself am concerned about this, too.”
On Brexit, he said the UK’s decision to leave the EU showed how “foolish” it was to listen to “demagogues who say… we’re paying too much for Europe.
He added: “In that respect they made a great contribution to European integration. Though in the short term that does’t really help Britain.”
He is being drafted in to his new Bundestag role to help deal with the arrival of 92 new MPs from Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The right wing populist party won a shock 12.6 per cent of the national vote in Germay’s recent electon, and its Eurosceptic policies could prove a problem for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The AfD is strongly opposed to any further European integration, the euro currency and mass immigration – views which put them at odds with Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Union party.