BERLIN—German Chancellor Olaf Scholz set out a 200 billion euro ($194 billion) “defensive shield,” including a gas price brake and a cut in sales tax for the fuel, to protect companies and households from the impact of soaring energy prices.
Europe’s biggest economy is trying to cope with surging gas and electricity costs caused largely by a collapse in Russian gas supplies to Europe, which Moscow has blamed on Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in February.
