The party announced that Social Democratic Lars Klingbeil was invited to become Germany's next finance minister in the incoming centrist coalition government, replacing Joerg Kukies.

Clinbel was also elected to serve as vice-chancellor.

"Today, the committee first appointed Lars Klingbeil as vice president and as the new administration as federal finance minister," CNBC translator said.

Miersch said Clinbel will also be responsible for building the remaining team of SPD to serve in the new league by early next week. SPD members voted for a coalition agreement between their political parties and the German central right, the Christian Democratic Union and its sister party, the Christian Social Union.

The 47-year-old SPD veteran Klingbeil has no extensive experience in the financial field, but has been one of the party’s two co-leaders since 2021 and was elected as SPD parliament chief in early 2025. He used to be the general secretary of the SPD for several years.

Klingbeil worked in the constituency offices of parliamentary members including then-President Gerhard Schroeder during and after his student in political science, sociology and history at the University of Hannover. He is also the deputy leader of the SPD Youth Organization and has held various regional political roles.

Klingbeil, widely regarded as a more conservative part of the SPD, calls for a raise in the minimum wage and reform of German pension policy in recent interviews and still accepts higher tax options. He also supports strengthening military and infrastructure modernization while criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies.

Apart from politics, Klingbeil has been a keen guitarist for rock bands for years and serves on the advisory board of FC Bayern Munich, a club he has long supported.

Other major ministers who will become part of the incoming government have also been chosen. These include Katherina Reiche as Minister of Economy and Johann Wadephul as Foreign Secretary, both of which will represent the CDU of the new government.

The CDU-CSU coalition won the largest vote in the German federal election in February, which led to CDU leader Friedrich Merz as prime minister. He will formally assume the position early next week, awaiting a vote.

Germany's elections were held several months earlier than the previous ruling coalition had planned after tensions around the country's budget and economic policies collapsed.

The upcoming ruling coalition will face several big tasks as Germany struggles to deal with economic stagnation, domestic infrastructure issues, trade tensions related to U.S. tariff policies and pressure from European allies to expand their military capabilities.

Even before a coalition agreement was finalized, both CDU-CSU and SPD changed the changes in Germany's long-term debt rules and created 500 billion euros ($569 billion) of infrastructure and climate funds.

As Finance Minister Klingbeil will be at the forefront in implementing these fiscal moves, marking a major policy turnaround in Germany. Although the development is widely considered positive in the country, economists’ recommendations depend heavily on how these changes perform in reality.