Merkel's conservatives to block proposal to ease debt limit rules

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said on Thursday they will not support a proposal by centre-left Finance Minister Olaf Scholz to ease strict debt limit rules and help indebted municipalities to hike public spending on local infrastructure.

Eckhardt Rehberg, chief budget lawmaker of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told Deutschlandfunk radio that changing the constitutionally enshrined debt rules would require approval by a two-thirds majority in parliament.

"The constitution is not a craft shop," Rehberg said, adding that he expected his parliamentary group to block any proposal to temporarily suspend the debt restriction to fund local infrastructure, notably on roads and schools.

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