German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is eyeing further spending cuts to come up with the funding for the current inflow of refugees, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Schaeuble aims to siphon up to 2 billion euros ($2.26 billion) off next year's budget, the magazine said, not disclosing where it obtained the information.
A spokesman for the ministry declined to comment on the report. The funds would come in addition to about 500 million euros of aid already earmarked to help towns cope with record numbers of refugees, moving to tackle an issue that is straining resources and fuelling social tensions. Germany alone expects the number of asylum seekers to quadruple this year to 800,000, and those towns in the front line say they are already struggling to pay for accommodation and fund medical care for the new arrivals.
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