Germany's Coalition Nears Crucial 2025 Budget Deal

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to finalize a deal on the country's 2025 budget this week. Despite missing an initial July 3 deadline, the coalition aims to draft a budget by next Thursday after months of negotiations. Key figures include Scholz, Economy Minister Habeck, and Finance Minister Lindner.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects to reach a deal on the country's 2025 budget this week, two people familiar with the matter said, without disclosing further details on what an agreement could look like. Scholz told members of his Social Democratic Party that sufficient meetings had been scheduled to ensure a draft budget could be put together by Thursday, according to the people, who participated in the party meeting.

Sources told Reuters last week that an initial July 3 deadline would not be met in budget talks, adding July 17 was considered a more realistic date. Germany's three-way coalition has been battling for months to resolve differences over next year's budget. Scholz, Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens and Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats aim to agree at least an outline next week.