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BERLIN (AP) - Germany's powerful finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, is making clear that he'd like to stay in the job in Chancellor Angela Merkel's third term.
The 71-year-old Schaeuble has been a key figure in shaping Europe's debt crisis response, championing Germany's approach of seeking budget cuts and reforms in exchange for aid. He's a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats.
Merkel is expected to start her third term in mid-December in a new "grand coalition" with Germany's center-left Social Democrats _ who are balloting members on whether to join the government. In deference to that, coalition leaders are keeping under wraps who will get what ministry.
Schaeuble told Thursday's edition of the Handelsblatt daily he advised his party to try and keep the Finance Ministry and "wouldn't refuse" if asked to stay on.
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