The German government looks set to turn down a request by Porsche for a state loan of €1.75bn ($2.44bn), with which the sports car maker hoped to ease financing problems in the wake of its stalled bid for rival Volkswagen.

A senior government official told the Financial Times that the chancellery and the finance and economics ministries had “informally agreed” to deny the company’s request after state-owned bank KfW advised against the move.