Lindner plans to lift self-imposed limits on borrowing and present a supplementary budget next week after a constitutional court ruling wiped billions from the federal budget and forced the government to freeze most new spending commitments.
HANDS TIED IN A BOXING MATCHThe crisis has sparked calls for reforming the debt brake.
"With the debt brake as it is, we have voluntarily tied our hands behind our backs and are going into a boxing match.
A poll by the broadcaster ZDF suggested only a minority of Germans, 35%, supported suspending the debt brake however, compared to 61% wanting it to stay in place.
Some 57% wanted the budget shortfall from the court ruling to be covered by spending cuts, 11% favoured tax increases and 23% wanted the state to take on additional debt.
Persons:
Christian Lindner, Lindner, hawkish Lindner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Robert Habeck, Habeck, Thomas Gitzel, Holger Hansen, Christian Kraemer, Miranda Murray, Rene Wagner, Matthias Williams, Toby Chopra
Organizations:
BERLIN, German Finance, Greens, ZDF, Bank, Thomson
Locations:
Germany, China, Europe