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German government wants to raise an additional 10 billion euros (about 12.4 billion U.S. dollars) in public investment from 2016 to 2018, without affecting its target of budget balance, announced German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Thursday.
He said the additional spending on top of German coalition government's initial plan would not be funded through new borrowings.
With a "strict spending discipline" in coming years, the money could be made available, said Schaeuble in a press conference to introduce the latest estimates for tax revenues.
He said federal government's target of budget balance would not be affected. From 2015, government spending would be raised "to the extent of the increase of income".
According to the latest estimates, overall tax income for German federal, state and local governments would grow by nearly 100 billion euros from 2014 to 2018, but at a slower pace than previously estimated in May due to weak economic growth. Federal government's earning would be 42.1 billion euros higher in 2018 than in this year.
Schaeuble's announcement came as Germany's European partners, the United States and International Monetary Fund urged German government to exploit its fiscal space to stimulate growth.
The European Union allows member states to have a deficit-to-GDP ratio up to 3 percent. German government had a deficit amounting to 0.1 percent of GDP in 2013 and is trying to balance its budget next year for the first time since 1969.
However, Europe's biggest economy was facing challenges to keep its momentum. Weak global growth and geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Middle East hit its exports and investment climate.
Despite a robust domestic demand, German economy was expected to improve only slightly, if not stagnated, in the second half of this year, following a slight growth of 0.7 percent at the start of 2014 and a contraction of 0.2 percent in the second quarter.
