BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a gathering of conservative politicians on Tuesday the Bundestag lower house of parliament would get to vote on aid for Cyprus before a European decision but he did not set a date, a senior conservative lawmaker said.
"In the parliamentary group meeting Schaeuble said the Bundestag would get to vote on it in the week before a European decision," Norbert Barthle, budget spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) told Reuters.
Another participant in the meeting confirmed Barthle's account of events.
Earlier on Tuesday some sources had cited Schaeuble as saying the Bundestag could decide on aid for Cyprus as early as next week.
A precondition for the Bundestag to vote on bailouts is a decision from euro zone finance ministers that Cyprus requires financial assistance.
Schaeuble can only give the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers German approval for the aid once he has the green light from the Bundestag. Approval from the lower house is far from a done deal with just six months to go to federal elections.
Cyprus, one of the euro zone's smallest states, needs up to 17 billion euros (14.7 billion pounds) in emergency loans, mostly to recapitalise its banking sector hit by a Greek debt restructuring. It has been shut out of international financial markets for almost two years.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Writing by Michelle Martin, Editing by Gareth Jones)
