Refugee benefits may cost Germany 3.3 billion euros more in 2016 - minister

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government expects that between 240,000 and 460,000 extra people will be entitled to social benefits next year due to the influx of refugees and migrants, Labour Minister Andrea Nahles said on Tuesday. Nahles added that this increase and other expenditure, such as offering language classes to refugees, would lead to extra costs in her ministry's budget of between 1.8 billion and 3.3 billion euros in 2016. (Reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann; Writing by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Madeline Chambers)