German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday Germans' private deposits at banks were secure, a statement that government sources said implied a full government guarantee for personal bank accounts, according to dpa. "We are saying to women and men savers that their deposits are safe," said Merkel just after meeting with senior ministers in Berlin on the crisis at Hypo Real Estate, a major mortgage lender. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck added, "I want to emphasize that we'll do what it takes to ensure women and men savers in Germany need not fear losing a single euro of their deposits." While neither of them elaborated, sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa this indicated that they intended to remove a monetary ceiling on the current deposit guarantees in Germany.
