German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck on Monday said he was hoping to solve long-standing problems with the European Commission over Berlin's ballooning budget deficit, dpa reported. Steinbrueck, who is attending a meeting of eurozone finance chiefs in Brussels, told reporters he was in contact with EU monetary affairs chief Joaquin Almunia over the issue. A meeting between the two men is set for Tuesday. "We are not interested in an escalation" of the long-running row with Brussels, Steinbrueck said. "It is necessary we find a solution.... I judge this possibility to be very high," he said. The Commission - acting as eurozone watchdog - has warned Germany several times for failing to keep its national budget deficit under 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as required under eurozone fiscal rules. This is the fourth consecutive year that Berlin will breach the 3 per cent threshold. Almunia said earlier this week he was delaying further action on Germany's deficit until February, allowing more time for consultations with Berlin. --More 22 29 Local Time 19 29 GMT
