Germany's parliament approved on Thursday the nation's first annual budget since sweeping reforms to loosen fiscal rules were passed earlier this year, securing record investments to revive the economy while committing to an increase in defence spending.
The 2025 budget allows for total investment of almost 116 billion euros ($136.94 billion), made possible thanks to a 500-billion-euro infrastructure fund and an exemption from debt rules for defence spending approved in March.
"It is a huge paradigm shift in German fiscal policy," Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told lawmakers ahead of the vote in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament.
BOOSTING THE ECONOMY, BOLSTERING DEFENCE
Germany has thrown off decades of fiscal conservatism in the hope that public investment can kickstart the lagging economy, while a boosted defence budget aims to secure future military support for Ukraine and meet more ambitious spending targets for NATO allies.
Under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to become more self-reliant in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NATO leaders agreed in June to up the defence alliance's spending target to 3.5% of each member's GDP from a previous 2%.
LOOMING BUDGETS GAPS, DIFFICULT DISCUSSIONS
With the 2025 plan secure, the focus of new Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition government shifts to budgets for the coming years, with difficult discussions ahead as Merz's conservatives push for savings in welfare, prompting pushback from their Social Democrat partners.
The coalition currently faces a 30-billion-euro hole in its financial plan for 2027.
"We will have to deal with huge challenges there," Klingbeil said, adding, however, that he was confident a solution would be found.
Parliament is set to begin debating the draft 2026 budget next week, with final approval expected in November.
Police have identified the suspect who fatally shot three officers in southern Pennsylvania as 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, who was already wanted ...
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday that Britain "fiercely" protects free speech, but when it was used to incite real harm to children and vu...
Iran and Saudi Arabia – the two power houses in the Middle East -- have decided to advance their bilateral economic and defense ties and to increase...
Canada's government is sending more asylum-seekers hoping to file claims in Canada back to the U.S. under a bilateral pact, even as the U.S. says it m...
Germany's parliament approved on Thursday the nation's first annual budget since sweeping reforms to loosen fiscal rules were passed earlier this year...
Police have identified the suspect who fatally shot three officers in southern Pennsylvania as 24-year-old Matthew James Ruth, who was already wanted on stalking charges.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday that Britain "fiercely" protects free speech, but when it was used to incite real harm to children and vulnerable people there was a limit.
Canada's government is sending more asylum-seekers hoping to file claims in Canada back to the U.S. under a bilateral pact, even as the U.S. says it may deport them to third countries.
Ukrainian troops and engineers will train their Polish counterparts in a joint group on countering drones, Ukraine's defence minister Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday, a week after Russian drones flew into Poland.
AnewZ has learned that India has once again blocked Azerbaijan’s application for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while Pakistan’s recent decision to consider diplomatic relations with Armenia has been coordinated with Baku as part of Azerbaijan’s peace agenda.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
European shares nudged up on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered borrowing costs for the first time since December, while shares of SIG plummeted after the Swiss-based company issued a profit warning.
Meta Platforms on Wednesday launched its first consumer-ready smart glasses with a built-in display, seeking to extend the momentum of its Ray-Ban line, one of the early consumer hits of the artificial intelligence (AI) era.
Entrepreneur Nelson Yang is reaching back into Taiwan's history to turn the humble banana plant into an unlikely sustainable textile. Taiwan is now the world's dominant producer of advanced semiconductors but the yellow fruit, still widely grown on the island, was once a source of patriotic pride.
Google said on Tuesday it would make £5 billion pounds ($6.80 billion) in new investments into Britain ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to the country, which is expected to feature a flurry of business deals and partnerships.
The founding family of Italiana Petroli is close to finalising the sale of the oil refiner to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), in a deal that would give the Azerbaijani group control of one of Italy’s largest petrol station networks, three sources have said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment