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German lower house passed huge financial rescue plan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-17 17:09

BERLIN -- German Bundestag, or the lower house of the German parliament, on Friday voted and passed the government's huge financial rescue plan worth nearly 500 billion euros (about 685 billion US dollars). 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel casts her vote during a session of the lower house of parliament in Berlin October 17, 2008. Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament approved a 500-billion euro ($673.8 billion) bank rescue package on Friday, leaving only the upper house to back the plan later in the day, with a large majority of 476 out of 576 parliamentarians which voted in support of the package. [Agencies]

The rescue plan, tabled by Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet earlier on Monday, was approved by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers, with 476 voting in favor, 99 against and one abstention.

The rescue plan is still awaiting the votes at German Bundesrat, or the upper house of the German parliament, which is due later on the day.

After that, German President Horst Koehler is expected to sign the plan to make it effective immediately.

Germany's rescue plan, amounting to about 20 percent of Germany' s gross domestic product, is part of European bail-out effort.

Among the rescue plan, the German government would offer a maximum volume of 400 billion euros (around 548 billion US dollars) in guarantees, a separate fund of 70 billion euros (some 96 billion US dollars), with extra leeway of 10 billion euros (about 13.7 billion US dollars), is to be used to recapitalize banks.