Traffic light coalition: Christian Lindner postpones budget presentation

Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has postponed the presentation of the key points of the 2024 federal budget and the financial plan until 2027, which was planned for next Wednesday. An announced press conference by Lindner after planned consultations by the federal cabinet was canceled according to the federal press conference on Friday. According to media reports, the background is the ongoing dispute over budget priorities and additional demands from various departments.

Christian Lindner wants to save

The budgets of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) are particularly delicate, the “Spiegel” reported. Pistorius is asking ten billion euros more for replacement purchases from the Bundeswehr, Paus eleven billion euros for the new basic child security. Overall, the additional requests from the departments exceeded previous plans by up to 70 billion euros.

Lindner only wants to fulfill additional requests if the money for them is saved elsewhere, reported the “Spiegel”. The Minister of Finance would like to comply with the requirements of the debt brake again in 2024. It offers him scope for fresh loans of around 15 billion euros next year.

According to the magazine, the Federal Ministry of Finance says that a postponement of the benchmark decisions is “no drama”. The federal government has until the summer to submit a calculated budget draft. A detailed budget plan is usually already approved in the cabinet in the summer – with a clear time lag after the key figures have been decided.