BERLIN: The federal government expects to spend 93.6 billion euros (US$106.2 billion) to support refugees over the next five years, weekly Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.
The magazine cited a finance ministry document that predicted the annual costs would rise from about 16.1 billion euros this year to 20.4 billion in 2020. Much of the money would go toward basic benefits, housing support and language lessons for asylum-seekers, but the overall amount also includes spending on efforts to fight the reasons why people flee their home countries and seek refuge in Germany.
Finance ministry spokesman Juerg Weissgerber declined to comment on the figures.
