Spain in better shape than Germany, according to Der Spiegel

The newspaper El Economista alluded in its Wednesday edition to an article appeared in the magazine Der Spiegel, in which the German publication criticises the German government

“because it likes to pride itself of its solid finances, when Germany’s budget management is not exemplary and the national debt could be above the EU limit.”

These are some of the most direct statements made in Der Spiegel to chancellor Angela Merkel:

“In fact, the German government accounts are not as good as the foreign minister and the finance minister would have us believe.”

The way events are evolving suggests that Germany

“can not maintain its position as a role model in the long run. In this sense, the public debt to GDP is already above 80% and compared with other European Union countries it is not exemplary […] Even countries in crisis such as Spain, are in better shape, with values ​​significantly below 80%.”

Merkel’s government has said it will reduce its debt level to 60%.

“To achieve this goal over the next 10 years, Germany would need a primary surplus of 2%, according to an expert of the Ifo Institute, based in Munich.

“Thorsten Polleit, chief economist at Barclays Capital Deutschland, finds that the surplus should be even higher: a primary surplus of 2.7%. This figure should reach 4.7% if one wanted to achieve the same goal over the next five years.”