Merkel sees good chance of SPD members backing coalition deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday she believed there was a "fairly good chance" members of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) would approve a coalition deal with her conservative bloc.

"I think that after the very detailed and thorough drafting of a coalition agreement, there is a fairly good chance that both the SPD members and the CDU party congress ... give a positive assessment of this coalition agreement," Merkel said.

"But we must wait for the results," she told a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.