The number of people in Germany who are heavily in debt rose dramatically this year, with nearly one in ten unable to pay their bills, according to figures released on Thursday.
Germany’s biggest credit bureau Schufa plans to tap social networks such as Facebook and Google Street View in a huge data trawl for personal information to use in deciding whether a person is credit-worthy.
German Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle pressed banks on Wednesday to increase lending as the government named a "credit mediator" to boost the number of business loans.
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has announced a plan to create a €10 billion state fund to help companies in credit difficulties, news magazine <i>Der Spiegel</i> reported Saturday.
The German government has offered an unlimited guarantee for all private bank deposits, a finance ministry spokesman told AFP on Sunday, in a bid to prevent a panic run on banks in Europe's biggest economy.
The German government, the Bundesbank central bank and market regulators have agreed with the private banking sector a new €50-billion rescue package for stricken bank Hypo Real Estate, the finance ministry said on Sunday evening. Earlier in the day, the government had announced that all German savings would be guaranteed if banks failed.
