BERLIN: Germany posted a budget surplus of 16.1 billion euros in the first half of 2014, highlighting the strength of the country's finances at a time when Berlin faces pressure to loosen the fiscal reins and spend more to boost flagging growth in Europe.
The data from the Federal Statistics Office showed that the federal government posted a surplus of 4.0 billion euros in the first six months of the year, the first time it has not registered a deficit in the period since 1991.
The overall surplus - grouping federal, state and local governments as well as the social security system - amounted to 1.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
That puts Germany on track to post its third straight budget surplus in 2014. Last year its surplus represented 0.3 percent of GDP, while in 2012 it was 0.1 percent.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/germany-posts-budget-surplus-as-pressure-rises-to-boost-growth/articleshow/41416978.cmsAnd what do we have ? Deficit after deficit ...
Sometimes you have to envy the Germans and the Swiss.
