Germany Needs More Debt to Meet NATO Goal, Scholz’s Party Says
- SPD Co-Chair Klingbeil wants to loosen borrowing restrictions
- Reforming debt brake would need two-thirds Bundestag majority
The Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Germany will have to loosen its debt restrictions if it wants to maintain defense spending above NATO’s target in coming years, according to the co-leader of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Scholz unveiled a €100 billion ($109 billion) special fund for the military and promised that Germany will meet the military alliance’s goal of spending at least 2% of gross domestic product on defense even after the fund is exhausted in 2027.