Germany plans to pay some 11,000 local employees at US military bases in the country who might not receive salaries in October because of the government shutdown in Washington, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The [German] federal government will initiate an unscheduled expenditure to ensure that October salaries are paid on time," a ministry spokeswoman said.

A ministry spokeswoman told AFP news agency on Wednesday that it was still unclear whether the US government would send through the money but that the German government would ensure that salaries would be paid anyway.

She said the German government anticipates being reimbursed once the US side does make payment.

Berlin's contribution is "a sign of solidarity with the US armed forces stationed in Germany and their civilian employees," she added.

Germany and the US are both members of the NATO military alliance and engage in substantial defense cooperation.

What is the US federal government shutdown?

The US federal government shut down on October 1 after Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on a stopgap funding bill.

If no budget is passed, the government cannot approve new spending, which has a broad impact on several federal institutions.

Under the shutdown, federal workers are furloughed or continue to work without pay.

Earlier this month, the White House began carrying out mass layoffs of federal workers.

US President Donald Trump has blamed the impasse on his political rivals, saying: "The Democrats are causing the loss of a lot of jobs."

While the Democrats want more concessions from Republicans on health policy, they are under pressure from voters to come to an agreement and end the shutdown.

Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah