Germany to make extra €6bn available for refugees

Germany, which is currently opening its doors to a record number of refugees, will make an additional six billion euros ($6.7 billion) in public funds available next year to cover the cost of looking after them, the ruling coalition parties decided on Monday.

"The federal government will increase its 2016 budget by 3.0 billion euros to cope with the situation with refugees and asylum-seekers and the regional state governments and local authorities will make available a further 3.0 billion euros," the conservative CDU and Social Democrat SPD parties said in a joint statement issued after a late night meeting on Sunday. Germany is expecting to receive a record 800,000 asylum seekers this year.