WIEBADEN, Germany (AFX) - Germany had a budget surplus of 50.9 bln dm last year, compared with a deficit of 55 bln the year earlier, the Federal Statistics Office said.
It said without the proceeds from the UMTS auction, Germany would have had a deficit of 48.5 bln dm. The 50.9 bln dm surplus represents 1.3 pct of 2000 GDP, it said. Without the proceeds from the UMTS auction, it would have reported a deficit of 1.2 pct of GDP, it said.
It noted that even without the UMTS proceeds, the deficit would have been well under the 3 pct limit set out in the Stability and Growth Pact in the euro zone. It said in the year 2000, 38.53 mln people were employed in Germany, up 1.5 pct on the 1999 average.