Germany met the terms of the stability pact for the first time in three years in 2011, with new data showing a public deficit of 1 per cent of economic output last year.

Germany’s federal and state governments had to borrow €25.3 billion to make up the shortfall between revenue and expenditure in 2011, down from €105.9 billion in 2010. Figures out last week confirmed the German economy shrank by 0.2 per cent in the last quarter of 2011, as did consumer spending.