BERLIN: Germany’s government achieved a budget surplus of less than 10 billion euros last year, a finance ministry official said Wednesday.
The exact figure will be published by the finance ministry on Thursday and will provide Chancellor Angela Merkel with fresh munitions to brag about her economic track record during the German leader’s campaign to win a fourth term in this autumn’s general election.
Strong economic growth, high tax revenue and a robust labor market are expected to have helped achieve the budget surplus, thought it will be lower than the EUR12.1 billion surplus in 2015, which had been the highest level since the end of World War II.
The government has also still EUR6.1 billion in untouched reserves that it had put aside in late 2015 for accommodating and integrating the over one million asylum seekers who have arrived in Germany since 2015.
The ruling government parties have said they want to use the current fiscal leeway for income tax cuts after this year’s general election.
The government had planned EUR316.9 billion in overall spending for last year. The government aims to have a balanced budget through 2020.
