The German government is considering scrapping one of its national holidays to boost growth, according to Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Finance Minister Hans Eichel discussed the idea of ending the status of October 3 as a public holiday at a meeting on Wednesday, the newspaper said in a release on Saturday.
The date celebrates German reunification.
The Sunday paper said Schroeder and Eichel had talked about a variety of ways to rein in Germany's budget deficit, which threatens to break the European Union ceiling of three percent of gross domestic product for a fourth straight year in 2005.
Economic growth this year will likely be around 0.4 percentage points higher than it would otherwise have been as four national holidays fall on weekends this year.
Germans have therefore had to work more as they do not get an extra weekday off by way of compensation. A Finance Ministry spokesman said that no decisions had been taken about how to promote growth and to cap Germany's deficit.
Economy Minister Wolfgang Clement stirred debate last year by suggesting that Germans should consider working more.