Germany's governing coalition has agreed on the details of the country's biggest economic stimulus package since World War II, worth a total of 50 billion euros. But critics say it won't be enough to combat recession. Germany's ruling political parties agreed on a two-year €50 billion stimulus plan, the biggest since World War II, at a meeting on Monday night to help Europe's largest economy weather the financial and economic crisis.Representatives of Germany's governing coalition met in the Chancellery and consulted late into Monday evening on the new stimulus package. The plan envisages €18 billion of new investment in the construction and repair of roads and the rail network and of schools and universities. Some of the money will also be used for faster Internet communication networks. Taxes are also being cut, with the tax threshold being raised to €8,004 from €7,664, and the entry rate of tax will be lowered to 14 percent from 15 percent on July 1. The German system of "cold progression," under which taxpayers are shifted into higher tax brackets even when real incomes have not grown, is also going to be changed, thus bringing tax relief. Under the current system, the tax brackets aren't adjusted for inflation.
Germany's governing coalition has agreed on the details of the country's biggest economic stimulus package since World War II, worth a total of 50 billion euros. But critics say it won't be enough to combat recession.
Germany's ruling political parties agreed on a two-year €50 billion stimulus plan, the biggest since World War II, at a meeting on Monday night to help Europe's largest economy weather the financial and economic crisis.
Representatives of Germany's governing coalition met in the Chancellery and consulted late into Monday evening on the new stimulus package. The plan envisages €18 billion of new investment in the construction and repair of roads and the rail network and of schools and universities. Some of the money will also be used for faster Internet communication networks.
Taxes are also being cut, with the tax threshold being raised to €8,004 from €7,664, and the entry rate of tax will be lowered to 14 percent from 15 percent on July 1.
The German system of "cold progression," under which taxpayers are shifted into higher tax brackets even when real incomes have not grown, is also going to be changed, thus bringing tax relief. Under the current system, the tax brackets aren't adjusted for inflation.
With carmakers all over the world hurting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will confront US President-Elect Barack Obama over Washington's automotive aid package. But is the pot calling the kettle black? Merkel's remarks came as her governing Conservative-Social Democratic coalition announced a massive 50-billion-euro ($66.2 billion) economic stimulus plan. "Of course, we won't be able to just stand by and watch how the American automotive industry is kept alive by billions of dollars," Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday, January 13. [...] Merkel has said that carmarker Opel, the European wing of General Motors, could get up to 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in loan guarantees to help the company survive the economic downswing. The German government has also waived taxes on new car purchases for 2009 and offered a 2500 euro premium for drivers who scrap cars more than 10 years old, if they purchase new vehicles.
Merkel's remarks came as her governing Conservative-Social Democratic coalition announced a massive 50-billion-euro ($66.2 billion) economic stimulus plan.
"Of course, we won't be able to just stand by and watch how the American automotive industry is kept alive by billions of dollars," Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday, January 13.
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Merkel has said that carmarker Opel, the European wing of General Motors, could get up to 1.6 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in loan guarantees to help the company survive the economic downswing.
The German government has also waived taxes on new car purchases for 2009 and offered a 2500 euro premium for drivers who scrap cars more than 10 years old, if they purchase new vehicles.
