The German government will record its biggest post-war budget deficit this year as the economic crisis sends tax revenues plummeting, Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, said yesterday.

Mr Steinbrück admitted the federal deficit would exceed €50bn ($68bn) in 2009 and rise to €90bn next year, more than twice the previous record of €40bn set in 1996 as Germany was absorbing the huge cost of its reunification. In contrast, the federal deficit last year was only€11.9bn.

The figures, based on official tax revenue forecasts released yesterday, makes it clear Germany will breach the European Union‘s fiscal rules by a wide margin this year and next. Berlin expects the economy to contract by 6 per cent this year in the sharpest contraction since the “great depression” of the 1930s.

德国财政部长佩尔•施泰因布吕克(Peer Steinbruck)昨日表示，随着经济危机使税收收入大幅下降，德国政府今年将出现战后最大的预算赤字。

施泰因布吕克承认，2009年德国联邦政府赤字将超过500亿欧元（合680亿美元），明年还将升至900亿欧元，是1996创下的400亿欧元纪录的两倍多，当时德国是为了消化两德统一的巨大成本。与此相反，去年的联邦赤字只有119亿欧元。

上述预算赤字数据是基于德国官方昨天公布的税收收入预测得出的，它们表明，今、明两年德国将严重违反欧盟的财政规则。柏林预计，今年德国经济将萎缩6%，成为上世纪30年代“大萧条”以来的最严重萎缩。