Bonn finds cash for Eurofighter take-off

Germany's Finance Minister indicated for the first time yesterday that his government had found the money to join Britain, Spain and Italy in the project to build Eurofighter, the new generation of multi-purpose combat aircraft. The plane will be built, Theo Waigel said, after meeting the head of Dasa, the company responsible for the German share of the project.

At least 14,000 jobs directly depend on Eurofighter in Britain, with a further 12,000 in Germany and thousands more in the other two partner countries. But the German government, grappling with a severe budget crisis, has been reluctant to give the go-ahead, which all participants need to issue the first orders. Germany is expected to make its formal decision on 11 July. The opposition Social Democrats renewed their call yesterday for scrapping the project. Imre Karacs - Bonn