Berlin - The German cabinet was meeting Wednesday to discuss the 2009 budget after weeks of wrangling between Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck and the spending ministries. 

Steinbrueck was to lay out plans to balance the federal budget by 2011, sketching out the medium-term financial programme to 2012. 

The new budget and the longer-term plans were testimony to the coalition cabinet's competence and ability to push through its programme, Steinbrueck told ZDF national public television. 

The 2009 budget foresees spending of 288.4 billion euros (456 billion dollars), some 5 billion euros up on the current year. 

Net new borrowing is set to come down by 1.4 billion euros to 10.5 billion in 2009, with new borrowing set to decline sharply in 2010 to 6 billion euros. 

Steinbrueck told ZDF his plans went beyond saving to cut the deficit and would also provide the funds to invest in education and research and development. 

He acknowledged that Germany's current economic situation was favourable, but said his longer term calculations were conservative in that they took into account the probable slowing of economic activity. 

He described total German federal debts of 1.55 trillion euros as "unimaginable" for normal citizens. It amounted to a middle-class family car for every one of Germany's 82 million citizens, from baby to pensioner. (dpa)