Germany passes historic debt reform

德国通过历史性债务改革

World Business Report

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2025-03-19

26 分钟
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Germany’s parliament has approved plans to inject up to €1trillion into the country’s military and infrastructure, in a move that could revive Europe’s largest economy. A Chinese electric vehicle company has developed a new battery that can charge a car in 5 minutes. And Will Bain finds out why soda and a gut healthy prebiotic are teaming up.
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  • Hello and welcome to World Business Report on the BBC World Service.

  • I'm Will Bay and thanks for being back with us.

  • In just a moment, we'll be looking at an historic decision in Germany to rip up its government rules about borrowing and debt to try and boost spending in areas like defense and infrastructure.

  • We'll be hearing from the chair of Germany's influential Council of Economic Advisers, amongst others, in just a moment on the program.

  • Also today, why the Chinese electric carmaker BYD's latest development could put it miles ahead of its competitors.

  • It's a big deal for a company that is the largest seller of cars in China, is present in 81 or 80, 80 plus markets around the world.

  • It's honestly quite impressive.

  • Yeah.

  • And why Pepsi has spent $2 billion on a soft drinks company promising to improve your gut health.

  • The question is always, is it really healthy?

  • And what I always say is, well, it's certainly healthier than a regular soda, which is not a high bar to clear.

  • Yes.

  • More on Poppy, the now latest billion dollar brand in the world of wellness.

  • Well, we'll try and explain why it' worth all that money a little bit later here on World Business report.

  • We're going to start in Germany though, because in the last half hour and as you may have heard in the news headlines, the parliament there has approved plans to inject up to a trillion euros into the country's military and infrastructure, amongst other areas.

  • It's a move that could revive Europe's largest economy and it's hoped boost the European Union's rearmament efforts.

  • In an historic vote which passed in the last hour in the Bundestag, the German Parliament, the members there voted to loosen Germany's strict borrowing limit.

  • This was the German leader in waiting, the soon to be likely next Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

  • In the run up to Tuesday's vote.

  • For at least a decade, possibly much longer, our society felt a false sense of security.