Berlin to soften spending rules for 100 billion euro military fund - sources

[August 21, 2023]  BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government plans to water down rules for how a 100 billion euro ($109.00 billion) special fund originally set up to finance major military purchases can be spent, several sources told Reuters on Monday.  

Berlin aims to change the law in a way that the money can also be used to pay for maintenance, which is seen as a running cost, and infrastructure as long as it is connected with military purchases, the sources said, echoing a report from the FAZ newspaper.

The fund was established in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to finance major defense projects such as the purchase of new fighter jets to bring the military back up to standard after decades of neglect.

($1 = 0.9174 euros)

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Andreas Rinke, Editing by Friederike Heine)

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