German gov't achieves record budget surplus in 2017

BERLIN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The German government achieved an larger budget surplus in 2017 than originally anticipated, figures by the Federal Statistical Office showed on Wednesday.

According to statistics, German government's net receipts rose to a record total of 61.9 billion euros (76.6 billion U.S. dollars) thanks to a one-off payment of 24.1 billion euros by nuclear power plant operators. It's the fourth straight financial surplus in Germany.

Earlier, Berlin had forecasted a smaller annual budget surplus of 36.6 billion euros in 2017 after having recorded a surplus of 25.8 billion euros in 2016.

The additional singular payment to a public atomic energy fund which was excluded in these preliminary calculations will absolve the nuclear industry of any future responsibility for the disposal of radioactive waste. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that nuclear energy would gradually be phased out in Germany in 2011 following news of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in Japan.

The Federal Statistical Office highlighted on Wednesday that all levels of German government had benefited from benevolent economic conditions last year regardless of the nuclear industry fee. Tax revenue increased due to solid gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2.2 percent, while a persistent low interest rate environment continued to reduce public financing costs on capital markets. (1 euro=1.24 U.S. dollar) Enditem