FILE PHOTO: German Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives a statement during the second day of the Informal Meeting of EU Ministers for Economics and Financial Affairs in Berlin, Germany September 12, 2020. Odd Andersen/Pool via REUTERS
The plans underline an increased readiness in Berlin to boost borrowing after a source told Reuters earlier this month that Scholz had initially been eyeing additional debt of at least 80 billion euros in his draft 2021 budget. Scholz said in a Reuters interview last week that he was planning to take on substantial additional debt next year to finance further measures and sustain the recovery, but declined to give an exact figure.
The step would require another suspension of Germany’s constitutionally enshrined debt limits after Berlin already abandoned them this year. Scholz is determined to stick to the fiscal rules from 2022 onwards, which would allow net new debt but to a lesser extent.
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