Fight against inflation: Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner calls on the EU countries to exercise budgetary discipline. It is important now that the states reduce their debts.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has called on the EU countries to exercise budgetary discipline in view of the inflation.
The FDP politician said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Greek counterpart Christos Staikouras in Athens that budgetary discipline is a measure to combat inflation. The individual countries would have to decide on individual steps to support affected consumers.
Against EU-funded measures
Lindner turned against EU-funded measures, such as those demanded by Greece. Staikouras, on the other hand, spoke again in favor of Union solutions. Greece is already taking care of the badly affected population and small businesses – Athens is helping with fuel and electricity bills. “We will continue to act close to families and households,” said Staikouras. “But we also demand common European solutions, as our prime minister has repeatedly demanded at EU level.”
Lindner said an important measure to fight inflation is for states to reduce their debt. In view of rising interest rates, public budgets would otherwise be “strangled”. It was therefore also the position of the EU Commission to return to “fiscal neutrality”: In view of inflation, governments should not support demand and the economy with additional government spending. Lindner also spoke out in favor of reducing subsidies.
Return to the debt brake
In the 2023 federal budget, Lindner wants to return to the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law, which was suspended during the pandemic. The SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken had questioned this with a view to financing further relief for citizens because of inflation.
The Federal Minister of Finance also spoke of economic progress in Greece. The government in Athens has made great efforts to get on a sustainable fiscal path and to implement ambitious reforms. With a view to the Greek sovereign debt crisis and the support from Germany and other countries, he spoke of very difficult political decisions. “Today one can say: These decisions were correct.” However, there is still a very high level of total debt in the Greek state, which, however, is not a cause for concern, at least in the short term.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
