Pre-Summit Boost

"German aid spending will rise by about 750 million euros ($1 billion) in 2008," Merkel told the Friday edition of German mass-circulation Bild tabloid.

The increase would be about 14 per cent compared to this year.

Government officials who asked not to be quoted by name told dpa news service the disclosure was meant to influence the summit, though the boost mainly fulfils commitments already given to increase aid.

Merkel said the rise was the biggest of any department in the federal budget.

Germany's 2007 aid budget was about 4.5 billion euros.

"Money isn't everything"

But Merkel added that increasing development aid wasn't the only thing that had to happen.

"Money isn't everything," Merkel said. "You could pump a vast amount of money into Africa and do the completely wrong things with it.

"We have to be partners who are equal in standing, with rights, but also with duties," she said. "The money has to get through to the people and really improve things. That does not always happen."

More aid to follow

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's minister for economic cooperation and development, told the Friday edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung that similar top-ups of 750 million euros would follow in the years 2009 to 2011 for a total boost of 3 billion euros.

"It is meant as a signal to the other G8 countries," she said. "Everyone has to realize that Africa's problems will spread here if we don't help fix them at source."

At the 2005 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, the industrialized nations agreed to gradually boost foreign aid spending to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product by 2015. They must reach 0.51 per cent by 2010.

Currently Germany only spends 0.36 per cent of GDP on aid.