German government refuses to make PwC a scapegoat
Bankers and auditors PwC mistakenly calculate Germany is €55bn better off, but won't be made the fall guy
GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER Wolfgang Schaeuble has no plans to punish accountants PwC over a €55bn (£47bn) book-keeping error that exposed it to ridicule in Europe.
Schaeuble said he didn’t believe in scapegoats following news that an accounting error by bankers and PwC briefly raised the country’s debt burden by more than €55bn.
He said it was an “extremely annoying mistake” but that he didn’t believe in scapegoats, at a recent news conference, Reuters reports.
He was later reported to be in discussion with the auditors of the German Central Bank, PwC and nationalized bank Hypo Real Estate on future improvements.
The German government has argued for years over a €6bn tax cut and found it hard to understand how the country was now €55bn better off.
The minister conceded that the mistake had shaken public confidence, but said it was simply a “communications problem”, which never put Germany’s fiscal interests at risk.
Revised figures from Germany show debt is expected to be 81.1% of GDP, down from previous calculations of 83.7%.