- Title: Merz announces agreement on major debt overhaul: 'Germany is back'
- Date: 14th March 2025
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR-IN-WAITING, FRIEDRICH MERZ, SAYING: "We have been informed that the Chancellor (Olaf Scholz) has told us himself, and also told me, that he is prepared to release these three billion as soon as this special fund and this decision on defence spending have been taken. So I am assuming that, with next week's decision at the latest, these
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: debt deal defence government infrastructure fund
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Company News Markets,Europe,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA003877214032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday (March 14) announced a deal to drastically overhaul the country's debt rules to allow a boom in defence and security spending as well as 500 billion euros in infrastructure investment in the coming 12 years.
His conservatives and their prospective Social Democrat coalition partners reached agreement with the Greens to exempt spending above 1% of GDP on defence and security more broadly, including civil protection, intelligence and "aid to countries under illegal attack" from the nation's constitutionally enshrined debt brake.
"Germany is back," Merz said, adding that the agreement signalled to partners and adversaries Berlin's willingness to defend itself.
Merz underlined that he expected the country to release 3 billion euros ($3.27 billion) in military aid for Ukraine once the upper house has passed a plan to allow drastically higher public spending.
"There will be no shortage of financial resources to defend freedom and peace on our continent," Merz told reporters.
(Production: Martin Schlicht, Tobias Schlie, Ulrike Heil) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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