Minister says Germany reaching its limits in refugee crisis - newspaper

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a newspaper interview on Sunday that Germany was now reaching its limit as thousands of refugees continue to stream across its borders every day. "It's true: The European lack of action in the refugee crisis is now pushing even Germany to the limit of its ability," he said in the interview published on Der Tagesspiegel's website. "It's not so much the number of refugees as the speed at which they're arriving that's making it so difficult for the states and the municipalities to cope," he added. The German government is expecting 800,000 new arrivals this year. On Saturday around 13,000 arrived in Munich alone. Gabriel said Germany and Europe should together put up 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of immediate aid to provide food, accommodation and above all schools for the biggest refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. He urged the United States and the Gulf states to support the camp's refugees with the same amount. "It's unacceptable that hundreds of billions of euros can be mobilised to rescue banks within a few weeks but the international community can't even get together a fraction of that amount to save people," Gabriel said. ($1 = 0.8821 euros) (Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Greg Mahlich)