BRUSSELS (MNI) – European Central Bank Governing Council member
Axel Weber said Friday that Germany’s deficit should be no larger than
4.5% of GDP this year, while the German Finance Ministry slashed its
forecast to 4.0%
Speaking at a joint press conference during the informal Ecofin
meeting here, Weber and Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen said that
the faster than expected recovery helped Germany to keep the deficit
lower than feared.
“In Germany we should expect a deficit of only 4.5%. We expected
worse at the start of the year,” Weber said. A spokesperson later said
that according to the Bundesbank’s latest assessment the deficit ratio
should not be significantly above 4%.
Asmussen said that Germany on Thursday sent its latest forecasts to
the Commission with a forecast figure slashed to 4.0% from 4.5%.
“As a result the debt ratio should be at around 75.4%. This
compares to a ratio of 73.4% in 2009,” Asmussen said.
However, Asmussen warned that the debt ratio might rise by up
to 8.5 percentage points once the Hypo Real Estate transfers its toxic
assets to a state-owned bad bank.
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: jtreeck@marketnews.com
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