Financial crisis has added more debt in Germany than anywhere else in the EU
Eurostat figures show that the financial crisis has added more debt to public finances in Germany than in any other EU country, Handelsblatt reports. According to the data, the financial crisis has added public debt in the EU in the magnitude of €603bn of which roughly the half was in Germany. The countries equally heavily affected – albeit considerably less than Germany – are the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. The main reason is the bad banks that had to be put up for Hypo Real Estate and WestLB. According to Bundesbank data, Germany had to put aside roughly €300bn for „financial market support measures“. According to Handelsblatt the WestLB is planning to outsource another €100bn of bad debt which will have to be added to that sum
(Quelle: Heutiges Eurointelligence News Briefing)