Finance: Kabinett is supposed to get Klingbeil’s household on the way

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil presented his first budget draft today to his ministerial colleague. The plans mark a U-turn according to the FDP-shaped financial policy of the traffic light coalition: with high debts, black-red is intended to invest in defense, modernize the infrastructure and bring Germany’s economy on a growth course. After a decision in the cabinet, the Bundestag and Federal Council deal with the budget.

SPD boss Klingbeil not only presents the draft budget for 2025, but also corner values ​​for 2026, gross financial planning by 2029 and a law with which a special fund for infrastructure and climate protection is to be created.

Because the traffic light government has not got the budget for this year, the ministries have had to limit itself to the most important thing since the beginning of the year. Therefore, the budget decision is urged: Before the summer break, Klingbeils should advise plans for the first time in the Bundestag and then finally decided in mid -September.

The finance minister is planning expenses of 503 billion euros. 81.8 billion euros are to be financed in the core budget from credit – more than twice as much as last year. In addition, there are more than 60 billion euros from debt -financed special pots.

75 billion euros are planned for the Bundeswehr, population protection, intelligence services and help for states such as Ukraine contrary to international law – 32 billion of them. Overall, according to the Ministry of Finance, the federal budget clearly fulfills the two percent rate of NATO for defense spending. Klingbeil’s house comes to 2.4 percent.

Here the Vice Chancellor only presents a rough planning, the exact draft budget is to be decided on July 30 by the cabinet.

So far, Klingbeil is planning with expenses of 519.5 billion euros. There are loans of 89.3 billion euros in the core budget, plus 83.4 billion from debt -financed special funds for the Bundeswehr and infrastructure.

The expenditure for the Bundeswehr, population protection, intelligence services and help for states that are contrary to international law such as Ukraine are to increase to 97 billion euros. At the NATO quota, Germany would come to around 2.8 percent next year by the Ministry of Finance.

By 2029, Klingbeil is aiming for defense spending of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product. Criticism comes from the left and BSW. The Federal Government goes into an “armaments spiral”, warned the left housekeeper Dietmar Bartsch. BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht criticized: “100 billion euros more for weapons and tanks, a tripling of arms expenditure within four years, that’s just sick.” Your party will not participate in such a gigantic tax incineration.

Special funds infrastructure

In order to enable the planned billion dollar investments in bridges, streets, energy networks and other infrastructure, a special pot is to be set up, which runs away from the debt brake and is filled with loans over 500 billion euros. That should also get the cabinet on the way today. The pot is said to have a term of 12 years and expire at the end of 2036.

According to the draft, the money is to be used for additional investments, especially in civil and population protection, in traffic, hospital and energy infrastructure, in education, research and digitization. 100 of the 500 billion euros are firmly planned for climate protection, another 100 billion for infrastructure investments by the federal states.

Unlike the federal states, the federal government should only be able to finance additional projects with the money that go beyond the normal federal budget. The Greens had negotiated that. The billion dollar loans may only be used if an investment rate of ten percent is achieved in the normal budget. Klingbeil wants to invest 27.2 billion out of the pot in the first year, 47.9 billion in the second year.

However, the Greens already criticize that the money is not used for progress, climate protection, social justice or the modernization of the country. “The coalition is far too little about the future, but above all about concealing political conflicts of the coalition,” said HausHäler Sebastian Schäfer from the German Press Agency. “The coalition distributes expensive electoral gifts to individual groups, stuffs household holes that they create itself, and cements the status quo.”

The Ministry of Finance does not see that Germany is taking up such high debts for its infrastructure. Interest obligations could not yet be quantified. However, the special fund can ensure significant economic growth, it is argued. This growth could “overcompensate with the stressful effects of higher debt stands in the medium term”.