Germany has posted its highest budget surplus since reunification in 1991, inviting fresh scrutiny over whether the eurozone’s largest economy should do more to increase spending and redress global economic imbalances, the Financial Times reported. Germany’s statistical office on Thursday reported the country was in the black by €23.7bn last year, with local, state and central government coffers benefiting from record-low unemployment and ultra-cheap debt finance stemming from the European Central Bank’s mass purchases of sovereign bonds.

Germany on Monday voiced support for Greece to stay in the euro zone and the European Commission dispatched a senior official to Athens to persuade it to take on further reforms to salvage its bailout accord, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, meanwhile, remained firm that as a lender the IMF could not cut any special deals for the crisis-hit country, which has received three bailouts since 2010.

Greece and its lenders should quickly approve a review of reforms the indebted country must take in return for unlocking new loans, a senior European Union official said on Sunday, warning of financial instability in the euro zone if the issue lingers, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. "Now is not the time to turn the clocks back to financial instability," Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission and the EU's financial services chief, told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Blackstone tabled a debt restructuring plan for German outdoor brand Jack Wolfskin before a lender call on Wednesday, sources close to the situation said, as the company's earnings remain under pressure. Under the terms of Blackstone’s proposal €150m of Jack Wolfskin's circa €300m (255 million pound) debt will be reinstated – although it is unclear on what terms - leaving lenders to take a haircut of around 50%, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

The premium investors are demanding to hold French over German 10-year debt has been given a fresh kick higher in the last few minutes after Francois Fillon said he would not take himself out of the running to be the country’s next president, the Financial Times reported. France’s 10-year yield gap with Germany – a measure of perceived riskiness of its debt – is now at its highest level since November 2012, swelling to 76 basis points and the widest margin since the immediate aftermath of the eurozone’s debt crisis.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi heaped praise on Germany on Thursday for demonstrating how countries can succeed within the currency union, and urged other eurozone governments to follow Berlin’s example, The Wall Street Journal reported. “When countries do pursue the right policies, the euro is no hindrance to success,” Mr. Draghi said Thursday at an event in Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana, to mark the 10th anniversary of that country’s adoption of the euro.

The drop in French government bonds has accelerated this morning, pushing the premium investors demand to hold its bonds over Germany’s to the highest in three years, as the favourite for the country’s presidency is hit by a swirl of allegations over payments made to his family, the Financial Times reported.

The premium investors demand to own two-year French debt over similarly maturing German bonds climbed to its highest level since the 2013 Taper Tantrum on Monday, as the country’s election looms, the Financial Times reported. The difference between yields on two-year French and German sovereign bonds climbed to 25 basis points on Monday, up from 18.5 bps on Friday and a low of less than 1 bp touched after the US election last November. Yields on the French note climbed 5 bps on Monday, compared to a 2 bp drop in German ones.

A sell-off in eurozone government bonds has left German yields at their highest level in a year, challenging investors who have long become accustomed to low inflation and weak economies keeping market interest rates at record low levels, the Financial Times reported. In France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria bond yields have broken through 12-month highs as investors focus on the accelerating pace of inflation, grapple with extra supply and question the longevity of the aggressive central bank stimulus that has dominated fixed-income markets.

Reducing debt in 2017 may be the best course of action for SAP SE, The Wall Street Journal reported. The German software maker is not under much pressure to repurchase shares and make acquisitions, analysts say. Finance chief Luka Mucic told analysts on a conference call Tuesday that share repurchases are an option in the second half of the year, depending on the company’s cash position. Free cash flow increased 21% year-over-year to €3.63 billion ($3.89 billion). Net liquidity improved by almost €2.5 billion or 44% in 2016, Mr. Mucic said. Mark Moerdler, an analyst at Sanford C.