German Finance Ministry expects continuing strong summer recovery

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's tax revenues recovered substantially in June as Europe's largest economy continued its strong recovery from the unprecedented economic hit of the coronavirus pandemic, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.

Revenues rose by 12.9% compared to the same period last year, hitting 73.8 billion euros ($87.04 billion), although they remained 8.6% short of the level in 2019, before the pandemic threw the global economy into chaos.

"The pandemic situation in Germany continued to relax in 2021, giving hope for a swift overall economic recovery," the ministry said in its monthly report. Over the first half, tax take was up 5.9% at 347 billion euros.

The report, published shortly after deadly floods hit western Germany, killing over 170 and costing billions, continued to expect the recovery to be particularly strong over the summer.

The ministry expected inflationary pressures to remain in the second half of 2021, with price increases likely to rise above 3% at least temporarily, thanks to an end to value-added tax cuts that were introduced as stimulus during the pandemic.

($1 = 0.8479 euros)

(Reporting by Rene Wagner, writing by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)