What to do with the budget surplus?

The Debates feature from Euro|Topics offers English (+ French and German) translations of a selections of articles in European news sources on this topic.

Euro|Topics relaunched their website during 2016. Features published before that date are still available via an archive website (see related url hyperlinks0Germany recorded a budget surplus for the second year in a row in 2016 - this time amounting to €6.2bn. Among other factors this is a result of unexpected growth: its GDP rose by 1.9% in 2016. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wants to use the money to settle debts and reduce taxes but the CSU and SPD have other plans for investment in infrastructure and education. Commentators are likewise at odds over how Germany should spend its extra cash.

• Primary Source

http://archiv.eurotopics.net/en/home/presseschau/aktuell.html http://archiv.eurotopics.net/en/home/presseschau/aktuell.html

The Local.de, 13.01.17: How will Germany spend its €6 billion surplus? https://www.thelocal.de/20170113/how-will-germany-spend-its-6-billion-surplus

ESO: Background information: Schäuble proposes fewer taxes, more spending in 2017 budget http://www.europeansources.info/record/schauble-proposes-fewer-taxes-more-spending-in-2017-budget/

Handelsblatt, 11.01.17: Germany Generated Unexpectedly Large Budget Surplus in 2016 https://global.handelsblatt.com/finance/germany-generated-unexpectedly-large-budget-surplus-in-2016-680202

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