German government mulls pension payments transfer from Deutsche Post &Telekom

The German government is considering asking Deutsche Post AG and Deutsche Telekom AG to transfer pension payments totalling billions of euros to the state in order to help plug the budget deficit, Financial Times Deutschland said, citing government sources.

It said by taking over the long-term pension payments meant for employees of the former state monopolies, the state would then receive in the short-term a cash injection of several billions of euros from the two companies.

The government would then not need to come up with an austerity programme and would be able to keep its 2005 budget deficit at 3 pct of GDP, it added.

Several research institutes have forecast that Germany’s budget deficit next year will breach for the fourth year in a row the EU stability pact’s limit of 3 pct.