Begroting Duitsland binnen Europese regels (en)

German finance minister Peer Steinbruck has said he will give Brussels good news on his country's public finances, announcing that Berlin will comply with EU budget rules for the first time in four years.

Mr Steinbruck told the German parliament on Tuesday (5 September) that Berlin will report a budget deficit of 2.8 percent of GDP [Gross Domestic Product] in 2006 to the European Commission.

The EU's stability and growth pact, the rules underpinning the euro currency, stipulate a maximum budget deficit of 3 percent of GDP.

The German government had so far officially said it would comply with the pact's rules in 2007, but August figures in the first half of 2006 had already indicated that the budget might drop below 3 percent already this year.

Confirming that this will be the case, Mr Steinbruck said "2.8 percent is realistic, we will report this to Brussels," according to press reports.

Since 2002, Berlin has broken EU budget rules four times in a row, with the figure for 2005 lying at 3.3 percent.

The Germans have faced huge criticism for disrespecting the pact, having been one of the founding fathers of the set of rules which was adopted in 1997 in an attempt to avert the risk of inflation and a weakening of the euro.

Germany's government led by the conservative German chancellor Angela Merkel has prioritised the restoration of public finances, introducing an unpopular increase in value-added tax to boost revenues.

Two of the other main budget sinners however, Italy and France, are doing less well.

The European Commission in May projected Rome's deficit to lie at 4.1 percent this year, rising to 4.5 percent in 2007.

Paris is predicted by Brussels to report a budget deficit of 3.0 percent for 2006 and 3.1 percent for 2007.