German finance ministry experts see budget surplus by 2015: Spiegel

German finance ministry officials expect a budget surplus of at least 5 billion euros this year, due mainly to higher than expected tax revenues, Der Spiegel weekly reported on Saturday.

Schaeuble has previously said he aims for Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, to have a balanced budget in 2015 for the second consecutive year.

A spokesman for the finance ministry declined to comment on the report but pointed to the ministry’s monthly report, published last week, which showed an 8.6 percent rise in German tax revenues in July alone.

Der Spiegel said a robust economic situation and strong labor market plus higher-than-expected income from the auction of mobile phone frequencies had improved the budget situation.

If the government does not spend any surplus, it has to pay off billions of euros in old debt.

Some politicians and German states have said more money is needed for accommodation for asylum seekers in Germany due to an expected quadrupling of arrivals from last year to 800,000.

Source: Reuters