Merkel says her party doesn’t want property tax to cover pandemic costs

BERLIN (Reuters) – Angela Merkel’s conservatives do not want to introduce a property tax in Germany to fund the costs of the coronavirus pandemic, the chancellor said on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, the Social Democrat chancellor candidate for next year’s federal election, has backed calls to reintroduce a wealth tax in Germany to pay back public debt amassed during the pandemic.

(Reporting by Paul Carrel and Michael Nienaber; Writing by Madeline Chambers)