Germany stimulus plan clears lower house

BERLIN, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, has approved a $64.3 billion ($50 billion euro) economic stimulus package, officials said Friday.

The biggest budgetary move of its kind since World War II was designed to help Germany tackle the recession. It still must clear the Bundesrat, the upper house where Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition does not have a majority, Deutshe Welle reported.

At the Bundestag session, only Merkel's conservatives and coalition partners, the Social Democrats, voted for the package. Opposition parties rejected it, including the liberal Free Democrats.

Their leader, Guido Westerwelle, said the package would be ineffective and saddle Germany with more hefty debt.

But Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck of the Social Democrats said there was no alternative.

The package makes modest cuts to income taxes to encourage consumer spending and increases family benefits and incentives for businesses.