Key facts
- Total new borrowing reached €210.4 billion, just under the record €215.4 billion recorded in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- New borrowing of €123 billion came from the core budget, which excludes borrowing under special infrastructure and defence measures.
- Plans for taxes on plastics and sweetened drinks and cuts to social security were dropped or delayed to secure agreement.
- A budget document seen by Reuters provided for spending of €561 billion and investment spending of €62 billion.
Germany's budget committee finalised the 2027 budget in the early hours of November 13, 2026, including more than €210 billion in total new borrowing, people familiar with the issue told Reuters. The committee agreed the package after weeks of negotiations in which plans for taxes on plastics and sweetened drinks, as well as cuts to social security, were dropped or delayed to secure agreement.
A budget document seen by Reuters provided for spending of €561 billion and investment spending of €62 billion. Total new borrowing reached €210.4 billion, just under the record €215.4 billion recorded in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the figures showed. That included new borrowing of €123 billion from the core budget, which does not include additional borrowing authorised under special measures for infrastructure and defence agreed last year.
Late on Wednesday, officials in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition agreed to scrap a proposed tax on plastic packaging materials that had been agreed by cabinet in July, and to delay a tax on sugared drinks until 2028. A planned cut to an electricity tax championed by Merz was also delayed. They also agreed to roll back plans to cut benefits for the children of low-income families.