BREAKING NEWS

Germany finds 55 billion Euros after accountancy error

By REUTERS

OCTOBER 29, 2011 13:55

BERLIN - Germany is 55.5 billion euros ($78.7 billion) richer than it thought due to an accountancy error at the bad bank of nationalized mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE), the finance ministry said.

Europe's largest economy now expects its ratio of debt to gross domestic product to be 81.1 percent for 2011, 2.6 percentage points less than previously forecast, it said. The HRE-linked bad bank FMS Wertmanagement was set up after HRE was nationalized in 2009, so that HRE could transfer the worst non-performing assets to an off-balance sheet bank guaranteed by the German state.

"Apparently it was due to sums incorrectly entered twice," said a ministry spokesman on Friday, adding the reason for the error still needed to be clarified.

The government nonetheless welcomed the news which pointed to a further reduction of Germany's debt mountain, which remains above the European Union's Maastricht requirement for 60 percent of GDP.

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