German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government will not raise taxes to cope with the unprecedented arrival of asylum seekers. Merkel discussed the situation with interior ministers from the country’s federal states, Deutsche Welle reported.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has asserted that Germany would not have to raise taxes to help pay for caring for the hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers arriving in the country this year, according to an interview to be published in Monday’s edition of top-selling German newspaper “Bild.”
“We can be pleased that we have been well managed for years and that our economic situation is currently good,” she said in comments made available Sunday, adding that despite the large number of newcomers, nobody should “worry that a refugee will take away from their own quality of care” when it came to the country’s health system.
Merkel, who has faced opposition from some of her political allies over her stance on refugees , also maintained she was not concerned by polls showing a drop in her approval ratings.
“The polls are not my measurement,” she said, adding that her task was finding solutions to problems “and to that, I am giving my total concentration.”
One poll by the Sunday newspaper “Bild am Sonntag” showed 48% of those surveyed disagreed with Merkel’s handling of the migration crisis, while only 39% supported her approach.
German officials have forecast that 800,000 people would apply for asylum in the country this year, with speculation circulating through the German media that the number of refugees could reach 1.5 million by December. Many have fled wars in Syria and other parts of the Middle East but many others are seeking a way out of poverty.
