German carmaker Opel might have to consider insolvency rather than be rescued by the country’s government, its interior minister said.

Wolfgang Schaeuble of chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats reaffirmed Ms Merkel’s indications the government is reluctant to provided the €3 billion requested by Opel to see it through the recession.

“In cases like Opel, one should seriously consider exercising insolvency law. Our modern insolvency law is not set up for the destruction but for the preservation of economic assets,” the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.

“The public perception is that insolvency is associated with going bust or bankruptcy. But that is wrong. We must grasp that to survive such a crisis, modern insolvency rules are a better solution than the state taking a stake.”

Representatives of Opel, its parent company General Motors and the German government met at the chancellery in Berlin today.

No agreement was reached but the government has requested further information about Opel’s financial situation, suggesting officials have not yet ruled out action to prop up the ailing firm.

“We had an open, good and constructive conversation with the General Motors management,” the Associated Press news agency quoted economic minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg as saying.

Difficulties in the carmaking sector are affecting firms around the world. Germany’s economy is currently in recession, with the manufacturing sector in particular seeing raw iron and steel production continuing to fall.