Germany's public debt surpasses $2.7T with rising defense spending

By Bahattin Gonultas and Gokhan Ergocun

BERLIN (AA) - Fueled by rising defense spending, Germany's general public debt to non-public institutions, including all basic and supplementary budgets at the federal, state, social security funds, municipal and municipal unions level, last year rose €63.9 billion ($68.9 billion).

Compared to the end of 2023, debt rose 2.6% to €2.5 trillion, Destatis data showed on Wednesday.

Federal public debt gained €36.5 billion and the debt of the states climbed €12.7 billion (2.1%) to €606.9 billion.

A Destatis statement said that Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) debt, which was established to help companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, fell 40.2% to €22.1 billion.

The debt of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) Special Fund soared 295.6% (€17.2 billion) to €23 billion in the same period.

After the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, the German government established a special fund of €100 billion to meet the German army's need for significant improvements in terms of personnel, equipment, and infrastructure.