Berlin - The upper chamber of Germany's parliament approved Friday the bank bail-out package announced four days earlier by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, moving the bill a step closer to becoming law.

The unanimous vote in the Bundesrat upper chamber followed a majority vote in the lower chamber or Bundestag. The next steps Friday were for the government and President Horst Koehler to sign the bill and to gazette it.

The Merkel government aims to have the package, which will inject up to 480 billion euros (650 billion dollars) into the German banking system, ready by the time financial markets open on Monday.

Regulations under the bill are to be discussed at a cabinet meeting in Berlin on Monday, a government spokesman said. (dpa)