Germany will continue to present overall budget surpluses of about 15 billion euros a year until 2018, according to a finance ministry report to be presented to federal and state budget officials on Monday, Der Spiegel magazine reported. The euro zone's biggest economy is on track to end 2014 with its third budget surplus in as many years, after posting its biggest first-half surplus since reunification in 1990.
The overall figure for the federal, state and local governments and the social security system was 1.1 percent of gross domestic product at the end of June. The finance ministry report foresees overall budget surpluses of about 0.5 percent though to 2018, Der Spiegel said.
Finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is targeting a public deficit of zero by 2015 but only the federal budget is likely to be balanced by then. Der Spiegel said the 16 German states would attain the balanced budget goal by 2017 at the latest.
Output has slowed this year and Europe's largest economy shrank by 0.1 percent in the second quarter before just avoiding recession, defined as two straight quarters of shrinkage, by posting 0.1 percent growth in the third quarter. Germany's next federal election is due in 2017, when it is not yet clear if conservative leader Angela Merkel will stand for a fourth term as chancellor.
Comments
Comments are closed.