The parliamentary budget committee in Germany has approved plans on Sunday for a significant increase in state borrowing to strengthen defense and stimulate growth in the country. The committee held an extraordinary session and endorsed the plans agreed upon by the conservative CDU/CSU, the Social Democrats, and the Greens, forwarding them to parliament for approval.
The proposal, which incorporates a 500 billion euro ($540 billion) infrastructure fund and changes to borrowing regulations, will need a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary vote scheduled for Tuesday, March 18. This decision marks one of the final acts of this Bundestag before the newly elected lower house convenes on March 25.
Greens lawmaker Sven-Christian Kindler relayed, "Today in the budget committee we have cleared the way for future investments," to Reuters. ($1 = 0.9192 euros)