GOVERNMENT BALANCE MOVES INTO 1.2% SURPLUS.

For the AEU, the government balance moved from a deficit of 0.6% of GDP in 1999 to a surplus of 1.2% in 2000, and for the Euro-zone from a 1.2 % deficit to a 0.3% surplus. However, even excluding the extraordinary proceeds from UMTS third-generation telecommunications licence sales, the declining trend in the government deficit continued. Without the UMTS sales, the Euro zone and the EU15 would have registered in 2000 a deficit of 0.8% and of 0.1% of GDP respectively, Eurostat says.In 2000, UMTS licence sales had a significant impact on the government balance in both the Euro zone and the EU15. They had a particularly large impact on the figures for Germany (2.5% of GDP) and the United Kingdom...