The debt brake was suspended for three years due to the corona – it should come into effect again in 2023. In view of the new crisis situation, Bavaria’s Prime Minister is now warning against “principle riding”.
Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has questioned compliance with the debt brake at federal level. “We are very much in favor of sensible finances. But if a mega-crisis threatens like now, then in the end there has to be a balance between regulatory law and a balance between help,” said Söder on Wednesday after a closed meeting of his CSU state parliamentary group in Kloster Banz near Bad Staffelstein. “From my point of view, in the end, aid for the country, people and economy comes before riding on principles,” said the CSU party leader.
The debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law stipulates that the federal and state governments must always balance their budgets without loans. Above all, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and his FDP insist on strict compliance with the rule, which was suspended for three years in the federal government due to Corona, from 2023.
Söder said: “I’m for the debt brake, I’m also for compliance with the debt brake.” He added: “But if it comes to a fantastically big, bad crisis? A dimension that goes beyond what we think? Then riding principles can’t be the solution for a country.”
The Union seems to have thrown its economic policy convictions overboard, said the head of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Dürr, the German Press Agency in Munich. “Mr. Söder must be aware that suspending the debt brake would make people poorer in the long term. The world’s fourth-largest economy cannot be financed on credit forever.”
Without the debt brake, inflation could climb to well over ten percent, stressed Dürr. “The traffic light is currently working intensively on cushioning the financial burden for private households and small and medium-sized enterprises. Dragging the debt brake now would be a fatal own goal.”
Söder said: “We need a gas price cap, we need a fuel cap. It works in other countries, why not in Germany?” A broad-based rescue package is also needed. It must also exist for public utilities, hospitals and other facilities. “Nothing should break,” said Söder.
He described the proposals presented so far in Berlin as insufficient. They are currently not supported by the federal states. He assumes that there will be a need for a mediation committee from the federal and state governments.
Source: Stern
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