Social Democrat co-leader Lars Klingbeil will become Germany’s next finance minister, putting him in charge of the purse strings of Europe’s largest nation as it prepares to unleash hundreds of billions of euros to overhaul its infrastructure and its armed forces.

The Social Democratic Party's Lars Klingbeil has been tapped to become Germany's next vice chancellor and finance minister in the incoming centrist coalition government. He will be replacing Joerg Kukies as finance minister,

Lars Klingbeil, Germany's next vice chancellor and finance minister, is an experienced Social Democrat lawmaker who has sat in parliament for more than 15 years, but his area of expertise has been in defence rather than finance.