Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) speaks in the Bundestag. (picture alliance / dpa)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government approved a second supplementary budget of 62.5 billion euros (70.6 billion dollars) on Wednesday in an effort to combat the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The move takes the government's total planned debt for 2020 to a record 218.5 billion euros, and comes on top of an initial 156-billion-euro supplementary budget passed at the end of March.
It is the latest development in a massive fiscal shift by the German government - from a country that prided itself on its balanced budget, to one of the biggest spenders in the eurozone's bid to fight the economic fallout from the pandemic.
Merkel's cabinet also discussed details of a record stimulus package to counter the economic impact of coronavirus-related restrictions.
The 2020 debt burden is five times as high as in 2010, the worst year of the previous financial crisis.
The move still requires approval from Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.
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