German municipal debt surges

15 December 2003

WIESSBADEN – German municipal debt surged 38 percent in the first nine months of 2003 compared with a year earlier, according to official data reported Monday.

The Federal Statistics Office said city and communal debts reached EUR8.7 billion, a rise of EUR 2.4 billion from the first nine months of 2002.

The office said cities and communities spent EUR 106.8 billion, up 0.7 percent from the first nine months last year. But at the same time, revenues dropped 1.6 percent to EUR 98.2 billion. .

The figures showed that on the expenditures side, municipalities spent EUR 22.6 billion for social welfare assistance in the first nine months, 7.7 percent higher than in the corresponding 2002 period. Personnel costs rose 2.9 percent to EUR 29.3 billion.

The decline in revenues was chiefly the result of lower transfers paid by the federal states to cities and communities. At EUR 16.6 billion euros, the figure was down by 9.9 percent, the office data showed.

DPA
Subject: German news