The German budget deficit amounted to 3.6 percent of gross domestic product in the first half of the year, raising the specter of the country, a repeat offender, flouting EU stability pact rules yet again. The Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said Tuesday that Germany's public deficit amounted to 36 billion euros ($44.0732 billion) or 3.6 percent of gross domestic product in the first half of the year.  

The figure was significantly lower than the 4 percent recorded in the same period last year, largely due to a stronger rise in revenues as compared to spending in the first six months of the year, according to the statistics office. 

Despite the slight relief provided by the figures in a country whose economy has been near-stagnant in past years and is currently battling an unemployment rate of close to 11.5 percent, financial authorities have warned that Germany is still in hot water when it comes to attracting the attention of watchdogs in Brussels.  

The European Union's Stability and Growth Pact, which underpins the euro, stipulates that eurozone members' public deficit cannot exceed 3 percent of gross domestic product.

 Germany, one of the prime architects of the pact, has breached the stability pact rules for the last three years in a row. Last year it posted a deficit of 3.7 percent. The pact has thus been at the center of a row between Germany and the EU Commission for years. The commission has accused Germany of not doing enough to set its financial house in order and consolidate its policies.