Germany achieved a near record budget surplus of €18.3bn (£16.8bn) in the first half of 2017, according to government figures released on Friday.
The timing of the figures could not be better for Angela Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term as chancellor in elections next month.
The surplus is the second largest Germany has recorded since reunification in 1990. The country recorded an even bigger surplus of €28.8bn in the second half of 2000, but that was boosted by a government windall from the sale of mobile phone licenses.
By contrast, the surplus for the first half of 2017 was fuelled by higher tax revenues than expected, as the German economy continues perform strongly.
Unemployment fell to just 3.8 per cent in June, when measured by the International Labour Organisation standards used in the UK.
High government spending on housing and integration for the more than 1m asylum-seekers who have arrived in Germany sincd 2015 is also believed to have driven the strong figures.
Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, has long insisted on a balanced budget — the “black zero”, as it is known is Germany.
An unconfirmed report in Bild newspaper this week claimed Mr Schäuble is working on a proposal to give southern Eurozone economies extra EU funding during recessions.
starwarsbv on August 29th, 2017 at 13:57 UTC »
what we really need is an army of hundreds of redditors telling a well-established government how to spend its money
ReasonablyBadass on August 29th, 2017 at 11:09 UTC »
Infrastructure projects, like a build up of our energy grid, more research grants, our schools and universities...
There are plenty of opportunities to spent that money wisely.
memoryballhs on August 29th, 2017 at 11:03 UTC »
Well, the question remains how the money will be spent. I am really curious about the different approaches of the parties. Additionally, that is a really good number for Merkel to profit from in the upcoming election. Not that she really needs it.