Germany is planning to spend 26.6 billion euros ($29.09 billion) on refugees this year, about 3 billion euros less than the year before, the Finance Ministry confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday.
"The German government will spend a total of 26.6 billion euros on refugees and will not leave the states and municipalities to cope with this extraordinary situation on their own," a spokesperson for the ministry said.
"This is despite the fact that, according to our constitution, the reception, accommodation and care of refugees are the responsibility of the federal states, also in financial terms," the spokesperson added.
($1 = 0.9143 euros)
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More and Friederike Heine)
