German conservative leader: the debt brake must stay

Germany's constitutionally-enshrined debt brake must remain in place, the new leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party told his party's legislators, according to participants in the closed meeting.

Armin Laschet, who is a front-runner in the race to become Germany's next Chancellor, was referring to calls earlier in the day by senior Merkel lieutenant Helge Braun, who had suggested that the mechanism should be reformed due to the pandemic.

"The debt brake must stay," Laschet said, adding that his Christian Democrats were focused on achieving economic growth by means including deregulation.