ANGELA Merkel, the German chancellor, signalled her government's readiness on Monday to purchase stolen secret Swiss bank account data on 1,500 alleged tax evaders from an informant.

The informant, who used to work at the Swiss arm of the British bank, HSBC, has offered to sell the data to the government for 2.5 million euros. Experts say the information, which is contained on a CD, could reap up to 200 million euros in tax revenue.

Despite strong voices of opposition within her own party, Merkel said “Our goal should be to obtain this data, if it is relevant. We should try everything to get information on possible tax evaders. Every reasonable person knows that tax evasion needs to be uncovered.”

But Swiss president Doris Leuthard hit back, saying it was “insidious” for a state that operates under the rule of law “to make use of illegal data”.

Merkel's willingness to buy the data, which has rattled relations between Germany and Switzerland, already at odds over the controversial issue of banking secrecy, was in contrast to members of her own conservative Christian Democratic Union and its sister party the CSU. Several spoke out against buying the stolen data at the weekend, saying it was morally questionable to use it to ensnare potential tax evaders.

Opposition politicians accused the conservatives of trying to protect their own interests as they pushed for the government to buy the data.

An estimated 175 billion euros is held in Swiss bank accounts by German citizens.

A spokesman for the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, said before any decision was made it would be necessary to “establish legal clarity” over using illegally acquired data.

— The Guardian, London