Germany cuts budget deficit forecast to 0.2%

Germany on Wednesday cut its budget deficit forecast for 2013 to 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product on the back of solid financial data. The Finance Ministry had earlier forecast a deficit of 0.5 per cent. Germany posted a budget surplus last year. The projection is well within the 3-per-cent-of-GDP limit, which eurozone members are required to meet under the Maastricht Treaty on European Union, German Press Agency dpa reported. The Finance Ministry also said the nation's debt would drop by 1.5 percentage points to 79.5 per cent of GDP, thanks to a solid budget policy and measures to trim debt during the financial crisis. The healthy state of Germany's public finances is in stark contrast to others members of the eurozone, which are battling to cut their deficit and debt levels after a protracted period of recession and fiscal austerity.