The economy remains weak, but the federal government has higher revenues than last year. The fact that it is in the red at the end of the day should not be a cause for concern.
The federal government collected slightly more taxes in the first half of 2024 than in the same period last year. According to the Ministry of Finance’s monthly report, tax revenues amounted to 176.5 billion euros – 4.6 percent or 7.8 billion more than in the first half of 2023. In addition, there were around 20 billion euros in other income, which includes interest income, toll payments and income from the sale of shareholdings.
At the same time, federal spending also fell by around four percent, mainly due to lower interest rates. However, the federal government had to dig deeper into its pockets for the citizen’s allowance and subsidies to the pension insurance system than in the first half of 2023.
According to the report, the federal budget had a financing deficit of 23.6 billion euros at the end of June. Revenue and expenditure are usually subject to strong fluctuations over the course of a fiscal year, so no conclusion can be drawn from this for the annual financial statements.
In addition, the federal government wants to take on an additional 11.3 billion euros in debt with a supplementary budget, which is intended, among other things, to offset the increased need for citizens’ income. This is possible due to the weak economy, even with the debt brake in place.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
