Merz unveils deal for new coalition govt

Chancellor-in-waiting promises to spur growth as survey shows far right gains

German conservatives under Friedrich Merz clinched a coalition deal on Wednesday, aiming to revive growth in Europe's largest economy just as global uncertainties threaten recession.

The conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union, or CDU/CSU, after having emerged as the largest party in February's parliamentary election, has now secured a coalition deal with the center-left Social Democrats, or SPD.

Talks between the party of chancellor-in-waiting Merz and the SPD, which came third in the election behind the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has been going on for a while. Now an extra element of urgency has been injected by the global economic turmoil caused by the United States' tariff policy.