Figures are not yet available for the East. The World Economic Institute figures that the tax estimates in May will find 15 billion Marks less that has been assumed. An employee at the Kiel-based institute told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that the shortfall means it is increasingly unlikely that Germany will fulfill the deficit criteria of the Maastricht Treaty. He said the federal deficit would be closer to 3.3 percent of gross national product than to the 3 percent prescribed by the Treaty. The newspaper report adds that the Munich-based ifo Institute expects a shortfall of at least 10 billion Marks, and the Economic Research Institute in Berlin foresees a gap of 5 billion Marks.
Experts blame increasing unemployment as the primary factor.
No agreement in wage negotiations in farming Frankfurt. The wage negotiations for the 1.3 million people employed in farming adjourned last night without result. Both sides expressed skepticism about the chances of reaching a settlement on wage and supplement rates in the fourth round of negotiations on April 11. The union entered the talks with demands for the guarantee of real wages. The employers, however, have made it clear that they do not see any leeway in that area.