German finmin: EFSF volume hike not on the cards

BERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the cabinet on Tuesday there were no plans to increase the volume of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) rescue fund or Germany's maximum contribution, a government spokesman said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said the minister had explained "that the EFSF will be given additional powers as agreed by European leaders on July 21 in Brussels, but it is not being expanded, the volume remains 440 billion euros, as does the upper limit for the German contribution at 211 billion euros".

"There was complete unanimity on this in the cabinet," he told a news conference.

Policymakers meeting in Washington this weekend talked about the option of giving the EFSF extra clout by leveraging its current volume, while the extra powers for the bailout fund are due to be approved by the German parliament this week.

(Reporting by Stephen Brown)