Germany Will Borrow $246 Billion This Year to Pay for Stimulus

The German government will request authorization from parliament to raise a further 62 billion euros ($70 billion) in debt to help pay for its massive stimulus program, according to two people with direct knowledge of the plan.

That would bring the total of new debt this year to 218 billion euros, said the people who requested not to be named because the official announcement has yet to be made.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet is due to sign off on the supplementary budget on Wednesday before it goes to parliament for approval. Earlier this month her coalition agreed to a sweeping 130 billion-euro stimulus package to spur short-term consumer spending, and get businesses to invest again.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has repeatedly said that Germany’s financing needs are manageable and that the government can also fall back on unused surplus funds.

Germany’s new borrowing requirements mark an extraordinary about-turn from years of fiscal discipline that produced balanced budgets. In March parliament had already approved extra debt of 156 billion euros as part of a supplementary budget request.

Germany Will Borrow $246 Billion This Year to Pay for Stimulus, Bloomberg, Jun 15