Reuters reports that Finance Minister Olaf Scholz - the Social Democrat, who is his party’s candidate to succeed conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel in a national election this year - was asked if the totemic constitutional borrowing ceiling should be suspended for a third year in a row.

“In coming days we will have to decide very concretely on how we deal with the new challenges,” he told. “We are very glad to have a good healthcare system. It would be crazy to cut that.

“And it would be economically wrong to adopt austerity politics and cut investment. So the question is how do we mobilise the funds that we need to have a good growth path and promote social cohesion,” he added.