Germany had a budget surplus of DM 50.9 billion last year, compared with a deficit of DM 55 billion the year earlier, the Federal Statistics Office said today.
It said without the proceeds from the UMTS auction, Germany would have had a deficit of DM 48.5 billion.
The DM 50.9 billion surplus represents 1.3 per cent of 2000 GDP, it said.
It noted that even without the UMTS proceeds, the deficit would have been well under the 3 per cent limit set out in the Stability and Growth Pact in the euro zone.
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It said in the year 2000, 38.53 million people were employed in Germany, up 1.5 per cent on the 1999 average.
AFP