Exclusive-German coalition parties mull more debt to super-charge climate fund

FILE PHOTO: Steam rises from Neurath lignite power plant, in Grevenbroich, Germany, January 16, 2020. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) -The three German parties working to form a new coalition government are discussing higher federal borrowing next year to allow a one-time, multi-billion-euro injection into the government's climate investment fund, two sources told Reuters.

The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the ecologist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) face a massive spending problem as they agreed in exploratory talks to return to strict debt limits from 2023 and avoid tax increases.