MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The German parliament passed on Friday the government’s budget for fiscal year 2017 that stipulates more spending on national security and relief action abroad.
"We will be able to afford to spend more on our security, both domestically and abroad," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the parliament in Berlin.
Schaeuble warned the national economy could face difficulties due to gloomy demographic future. "We must not rest on the laurels," he said at the start of parliamentary debates.
The German government has managed to hold on to a balanced budget and refrain from taking on any new debt for a third consecutive year, despite recent data from the federal statistics agency which showed the economic growth halve in July-September from the previous quarter.
