March 27, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 23, 1424

FRANKFURT, March 26: Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, said on Wednesday its profits were cut in half last year to 5.43 billion euros ($5.78 billion).

The figure compared to 11.2 billion euros in 2001, the second-highest profit the Bundesbank has recorded.

Under German law, 3.5 billion euros of the central bank’s profit flows into the current federal budget, while the rest is used to repay debt of a special fund set up after unification to cover the debts of the former East Germany.

The Bundesbank said that its main source of income last year had been interest earnings, which totalled around six billion euros and produced net earnings of 4.2 billion euros. —AFP