BERLIN, Jan 31 (Reuters) - German conservative Angela Merkel promised on Saturday to cut taxes should she be re-elected as chancellor in a federal election this year.
"A tax reform with tax cuts is part of our offer in the election programme," the chancellor told CDU members in Berlin.
Politicians within Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have been divided over the necessity of tax cuts to stimulate Europe's largest economy.
The CDU premier of the western state of Saarland spoke out against tax cuts on Saturday, referring to the large amounts of new debt Germany would accumulate due to two multi-billion euro economic stimulus packages agreed in past weeks.
"(I don't see how we) can conduct a tax reform with net relief of a two-digit billion figure in the short-term," Peter Mueller said in an interview with Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper, to be published on Sunday.
Other senior CDU members, including Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, have also voiced concern that there is no further room of manoeuvre for tax cuts, while CSU politicians have said cuts are needed to boost the economy.
The dispute within the conservatives already played out during debates on a 50-billion euro ($64.24 billion) economic stimulus package, which Merkel's grand coalition government of CDU, CSU and Social Democrats agreed earlier this month.
Merkel had long argued against including tax cuts in the package, saying Germany had to keep a close eye on the budget, but she then bowed to CSU pressure for cuts.
The stimulus package, which followed a first series of measures passed last year, includes tax relief measures worth 2.9 billion euros in 2009 and 6.05 billion euros next year.
Germany's federal election is to take place in September and opinion polls show the conservatives well ahead of the SPD. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Kerstin Gehmlich)