CSU Would Back Budget Cuts, Stoiber Says

Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) has signalled a willingness to back budget cuts the German federal government's is likely to have to make to fill a massive budget hole, according to an interview with the CSU leader and Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber in the German daily Die Welt. Stoiber, who ran against German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in the 2002 general election, said the government should cut spending by five percent next year to make sure Germany doesn’t violate the EU's Stability and Growth pact for a fourth year in a row. The pact requires country to keep budget deficits below three percent of gross domestic product. Schröder, on the other hand, has said his government has no plans for further spending cuts as it fears such a step would further slow already weak consumer spending.