Finance
Germany's 2025 borrowing undershoots plan as spending falls, revenues rise
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 23, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 23, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Germany's 2025 borrowing fell below budget plans due to reduced spending and increased revenues, reflecting recent fiscal reforms.
BERLIN, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Germany's net borrowing in 2025 came in well below the level set out in its budget plan, helped by lower-than-expected spending and higher-than-expected revenues, the finance ministry said on Friday.
This was the nation's first annual budget since sweeping reforms to loosen fiscal rules were passed in March last year, securing record investments to revive the economy while committing to an increase in defence spending.
Based on preliminary figures, borrowing totalled 66.9 billion euros ($78.55 billion) in the core budget, 14.9 billion less than budgeted, an official said, attributing the undershoot in roughly equal parts to spending "undershoots" and revenue overperformance.
In the core budget, total spending reached 495.5 billion euros, versus 502.5 billion originally planned, while revenues stood at 428.6 billion, higher than the 420.8 billion expected, according to the ministry.
Germany has thrown off decades of fiscal conservatism in the hope that public investment can kickstart the lagging economy, while a defence budget boost aims to secure military support for Ukraine and meet more ambitious spending targets for NATO members.
Total borrowing rose to 102.7 billion euros, including funds from the special infrastructure fund approved in March and from the special defence fund.
The figure for total borrowing is below the 143.2 billion euros originally planned.
($1 = 0.8517 euros)
(Reporting by Maria Martinez and Holger Hansen, editing by Thomas Seythal)
The article discusses Germany's 2025 borrowing falling below budget plans due to spending cuts and revenue increases.
Lower-than-expected spending and higher-than-expected revenues contributed to the undershoot.
Fiscal reforms led to increased public investment and defense spending to boost the economy and meet NATO targets.
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