Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 21, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
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Germany's upper house approved a debt reform and €500 billion fund to boost infrastructure and economy, allowing more defense spending.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's upper house of parliament on Friday passed a reform of the country's borrowing rules and a 500-billion-euro ($542 billion) fund to revamp its infrastructure and revive Europe's largest economy.
The constitutional amendment to loosen the so-called debt brake also allows for de-facto unlimited spending on defence and security.
The upper house of parliament, which represents the 16 German states, passed the bill with the necessary two-thirds majority after Tuesday's vote in the lower house, the Bundestag.
The conservatives and the SPD party, who are in talks to form a centrist coalition after last month's election, worked to pass the legislation through the outgoing parliament for fear it could be blocked by far-right and far-left lawmakers in the next Bundestag starting March 25.
Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has defended the tight timetable, which angered fringe opposition parties, by pointing to a rapidly changing geopolitical situation.
($1 = 0.9230 euros)
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, writing by Thomas Seythal, editing by Rachel More)
The main topic is the approval of a debt reform and a €500 billion fund by Germany's upper house of parliament.
The reform loosens borrowing rules and allows for increased spending on defense and security.
The conservatives and SPD party supported the legislation, passing it through the outgoing parliament.
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