The federal government has long struggled to draw up the federal budget for the coming year. The Ministry of Finance has capped the departments’ spending requests and intends to keep a close eye on them in the future.
The Ministry of Finance intends to follow a strict budgetary course in the coming years. Expenditure and measures must be prioritized, potential savings identified and implemented, according to Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). Despite consolidation measures, there is a budgetary “need for action” totaling 14.4 billion euros in the years 2025 to 2027. So this money needs to be saved.
The federal government had struggled for a long time to draw up the federal budget for 2024. This is now to be adopted by the cabinet on Wednesday. According to the draft, expenditure should drop significantly to 445.7 billion euros. With a view to the corona pandemic and the energy crisis, it was said that after the additional spending caused by the crisis, there should be a return to “normal” financial policy.
The new debt is expected to be 16.6 billion euros in 2024. This is intended to comply with the debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law. It was possible to close a coverage gap of 20 billion euros in the draft, according to the Ministry of Finance. But one cannot speak of a “string concert”. Originally, the departments would have had significantly higher spending requests.
The task areas of defence, digitization and climate protection would have priority in the next few years, it said. At the same time, with a view to social spending, for example, it was said that more and more funds were tied up and the scope was becoming smaller and smaller.
Two billion euros are estimated for 2025 to finance the planned basic child security. That is significantly less than the twelve billion euros that Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) had demanded. In the coalition, there is still a need for clarification on basic child security.
Source: Stern
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