Posted by WARREN MOSLER on 6th November 2008
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The fastest economic growth this decade in 2006, Merkel’s first full year in power, and in 2007 helped her administration to narrow the deficit. The economy expanded 2.9 percent in 2006 and 2.5 percent last year, helping cut cumulative public sector deficit to 37 billion euros and 400 million euros respectively.
Budget surpluses ran last year by Germany’s states and municipalities outweighed a federal deficit to create the country’s first balanced budget since 1969. European Union rules on taming budget deficits apply to the composite budget.
Fiscal policy got a lot tighter than I had realized. No wonder it’s coming down so hard.
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Posted by WARREN MOSLER on 25th August 2008
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Wrong time for tight fiscal from a macro perspective, and contributed to the subsequent slowdown, but as a credit sensitive entity they are compelled to go in that direction.
It’s one of those darned if you do and darned if you don’t.
by Dave Graham
(Reuters) Germany likely posted a budget surplus of some 7.3 billion euros ($10.85 billion) in the first half of 2008 according to the Kiel-based IfW economic research institute, business daily Handelsblatt reported on Sunday.
The IfW thinktank had calculated the combined surplus of federal, state and local governments in the first half equated to 0.6 percent of German gross domestic product, the paper said.
Germany’s Federal Statistics Office is due to publish a budget balance estimate for the January-to-June period on Tuesday. ($1=.6727 Euro)
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