[DW] Germany ended 2019 with a budget surplus of €13.5 billion.
| Impressive. If only America’s politicians were so self controlled. |
It is the third time in the last five years that Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
's largest economy closed the year with a budget surplus. The 2019 surplus overtook a 2015 budget surplus of €12.1 billion.
Added to that figure is an additional €5.5 billion from a fund earmarked for refugees that went unspent, making a total surplus of €19 billion.
Larger-than-expected tax income and low interest rates were partly responsible for the surplus, the finance minister explained.
Current negative interest rates also meant that Germany paid a relatively low €12 billion in interest on its debt in 2019.
The state had also set aside a significant sum to be used in case of a hard Brexit, which was freed up after recent UK elections took that option off the table.
The largest share has been allocated to a reserve for spending related to asylum-seekers in Germany, though it could ultimately be used for other projects.
A special military defense budget will receive €500 million.
| Woo hoo! Bullets and spare tires for everyone! |
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