Germany is putting up a “defensive umbrella” of up to 200 billion euros ($196 billion) to stabilise the country’s economy during the energy crisis, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced.
The country’s Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), which was set up during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, will manage and distribute the state aid, reports Xinhua news agency.
With the relaunch of the fund, Germany is also reacting to the changed gas supply situation with Russia, after leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines led to an indefinite hiatus in flow.
“We are well prepared for this situation,” Scholz said on Thursday, adding that he expected there would be “no gas supplies from Russia in the foreseeable future”.
