Berlin  - German Economics Minister Michael Glos offered to resign Saturday, less that eight months before the country votes in a general election, sources close to the minister said.

The sources confirmed a report in the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, which said the 64-year-old minister had informed Chancellor Angela Merkel of his intention.

Glos is a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

Glos expressed his desire to step down in a letter to CSU leader Host Seehofer, who is also prime minister of the southern state of Bavaria.

Bild am Sonntag, which said it had obtained a copy of the letter, said Glos told Seehofer he wanted to quit in order to make way for a renewal in the CSU.

The party lost its absolute majority in Bavarian state elections last February and was forced to seek a coalition with the business-oriented Free Democrats (FDP).

Glos has been economics minister since Merkel's conservatives took office in a grand coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) end of 2005.

He told Seehofer that after the general election on September 27 he no longer wanted to remain in the government and asked to be relieved of his cabinet duties as soon as possible, Bild am Sonntag said.

Glos, who followed a conservative economic policy line, was often at odds with Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, a Social Democrat. (dpa)