Germany to borrow €2bn in 2014

The German government will have to borrow 8 billion euros ($11 billion) in new debt in 2014, 2 billion euros more than planned by the previous coalition, German magazine Spiegel reported on Sunday. Citing planning documents from the Finance Ministry, Spiegel said the higher amount is needed to finance some of the measures agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) in a coalition deal struck late last month, including large new infrastructure investments. Merkel won September's election but fell short of a majority, forcing her into a "grand coalition" with the Centre-left SPD after her previous partners the Free Democrats (FDP) failed to win enough support to enter parliament. A Finance Ministry spokeswoman said the new government had yet to set a budget for the coming year and that this would be tailored to the coalition deal.