The German government has agreed to take stakes in any large industrial companies facing insolvency because of credit shortages, according to leaders of chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.

Ms Merkel, whose government will on Monday adopt a two-year, €50bn ($67bn, £44bn) fiscal package, the largest stimulus in Europe since the start of the financial crisis, said measures would include a €100bn “Germany fund” that would issue credit guarantees to help cash-starved businesses raise debt.