German local governments were disappointed with a decision to delay finding a permanent solution to refugee financing until later this year, the Rheinische Post reported on Thursday.

In an agreement reached on Wednesday evening, the federal government promised €1 billion ($1.1 billion) as an additional contribution to the costs of refugee care for 2023.

However, a decision on permanent funding will not be made until November.

The German Association of Towns and Municipalities chief executive, Gerd Landsberg, told the Rheinische Post the delay was too late.

“An agreement in November is clearly too late for the year 2024 and is met with great disappointment by the municipalities. The extra billion was “only a drop in the ocean,’’ Mr Landsberg said.

“This is a bad signal to the cities,“ Markus Lewe, president of the Association of Cities, said.

Meanwhile, municipal representatives were not invited to the meeting.

The funding is to support the states in providing additional relief to their municipalities and in financing the digitalisation of the immigration authorities.

The federal government had already pledged 1.5 billion Euros for war refugees from Ukraine this year and €1.25 billion for other refugees.

In the first four months of 2023, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees received 101,981 asylum applications, an increase of about 78 per cent compared to the same period in 2022.

The main countries of origin of the applicants since the beginning of 2023 have been Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.

(dpa/NAN)