Berlin - German political leaders decided Tuesday that a scheduled pay rise for members of parliament would not go through, in the face of widespread popular disgust and evidence of a rising number of people trapped in poverty.

The caucus heads of the two main parties announced the decision in Berlin.

Volker Kauder, who heads the caucus of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), said he continued to back the principle that members of the Bundestag should be on the same pay scale as lower-level federal judges.

"But this is difficult to put across at the moment," he said.

His counterpart with the Social Democrats (SPD), Peter Struck, said implementation of the pay rise was "not possible as a result of the public discussion."

Two weeks ago the two caucuses agreed to increase pay scales for members of the Bundestag by 15 per cent by 2010.

A Bundestag member currently earns 7,339 euros a month (almost 11,500 dollars), with a rise to 7,668 euros to come into effect on January 1 next year.

The decision came a day after an official study showed an increase in the number of people classified as living in poverty in Germany. The survey also showed that the rich were getting significantly richer.

According to the survey, 13.2 per cent of Germans live in poverty - defined as having less than 60 per cent of the average income - after various social welfare payments are included.

But the figures also showed that twice that number were at risk of poverty.

Using European Union methods, Germany defines poverty as a single person having less than 781 euros monthly after tax.

By European standards, Bundestag members are not particularly well off. While comparisons are difficult between countries, Italian and Irish members of parliament do considerably better, once allowances for expenses are taken into account. (dpa)