Germany's record federal budget deficit has been revised lower owing to an improved economic outlook and lower unemployment costs, leaders of the ruling conservative-liberal coalition said on Friday.

The previous forecast for a deficit of 85.8 billion euros (116.6 billion dollars) has been cut to 80.2 billion, said Norbert Barthle, who handles finance issues for the conservative CDU-CSU parliamentary group.

Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, is to vote March 19 on the budget, which did not include any funds for Greece according to Otto Fricke, Barthle's counterpart at the liberal FDP party that is part of Germany's ruling coalition.

The main reason for the improved estimate was a better than expected "economic evolution," in particular regarding unemployment figures, which would mean lower payments by the federal labour agency, Barthle said.

Around 400 million euros less would be needed for unemployment benefits.

Germany has partially subsidised shorter working hours for companies so they can retain workers and quickly ramp up output when economic conditions improve.

That and other economic stimulus measures will push up Germany's overall public deficit however to around six percent of gross domestic product this year.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has pledged to get back down to the eurozone limit of three percent by about 2013.