Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to unleash a spending blitz to fix railways, roads and bridges as well as overhaul the long-neglected armed forces, in the process helping revive Europe's struggling top economy.
Federal government investment spending rose by more than 12 billion euros in 2025 compared to 2024, to 86.8 billion, an annual increase of 17 percent, the ministry said.
However, a larger figure of 115.6 billion had been laid out in the annual budget, which was adopted late after the previous government collapsed, triggering early elections which brought Merz to power in May.
"The figures show that the first investments have started but we still need to pick up the pace," said Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, from the centre-left SPD party which rules in coalition with Merz's conservative bloc.
As of December 31, nearly 24 billion euros in spending commitments had been made from a 100-billion-euro fund for infrastructure and climate protection, according to the ministry.
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In terms of defence, 72.2 billion euros was disbursed last year, lower than initial forecasts.
In 2025 Berlin borrowed a total of 102.7 billion euros on the markets to finance its budget deficit, well below the 143.2 billion initially planned.
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