Germany's public debt to fall below EU ceiling this year: document

BERLIN: The German government expects the country's public sector debt to fall below the European Union's debt ceiling this year, a draft document seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.

The document shows debt is expected to fall to 58.75 percent of economic output in 2019, below the 60 percent mark set by the bloc. It would be the first time since 2002 that German debt falls below that mark.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said last year that Germany would achieve this milestone by the end of 2018. But the document showed that the government estimates public debt stood at 60.9 percent last year.