German parties pledge higher minimum wage, apartment-building in memo

BERLIN, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The German parties that are set to announce a deal to form a coalition led by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said they had agreed on a 12 euro minimum wage and to build 400,000 apartments a year, according to a document seen by Reuters.

In talking points distributed to party officials, the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats also said tackling the coroanvirus pandemic would be one of the first important tasks of the coalition.

"We are in politics to create a society based on respect," they wrote. "A minimum wage of 12 euros means a pay rise for around 10 million people."

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt Editing by Riham Alkousaa)