German upper house of parliament OKs debt reform, half-trillion fund

Germany’s upper house of parliament on Friday passed a reform of the country’s borrowing rules and a 500-billion-euro ($542 billion) fund to revamp its infrastructure and revive Europe’s largest economy.

The constitutional amendment to loosen the so-called debt brake also allows for de-facto unlimited spending on defence and security.

The upper house of parliament, which represents the 16 German states, passed the bill with the necessary two-thirds majority after Tuesday’s vote in the lower house, the Bundestag.