Three years ago, Angela Merkel’s government suspended the constitutional debt limit, allowing increased spending to combat the economic effects of the pandemic. A year later, it turned out that 60 billion euros remained from this pool. The unspent loan was actually supposed to be written off, but Olaf Scholz’s government decided to allocate it to energy conversion purposes.
Germany. The Minister of Finance is looking for ways to fill the budget gap
After deciding to stop funding, Finance Minister Christian Lindner is now looking for ways to close the budget gap. Economists warn that the exhaustion of the Climate and Transition Fund will hit energy-intensive sectors. The Handelsblatt daily newspaper predicted that “a 30 percent reduction in spending will push many companies into a struggle for survival.”
A similar opinion was expressed by Monica Schnitzer, head of the Council of Economic Advisers of the Federal Government. In her opinion, the ruling of the judges in Karlsruhe should force the coalition partners not only to reform the fund, but also to rein in debt, which was reactivated this year and, in its current form, has turned out to be an “enemy of investment.” “.
The Climate and Transition Fund includes, among other things, support for projects pushed by the Greens, such as thermal retrofitting of buildings, decarbonisation of industry or obtaining energy from renewable sources. – We plan to increase spending on improving energy efficiency in buildings and supporting energy-intensive companies. We have to plan partly from new Christian Lindner confessed immediately after the verdict was announced on Wednesday. In the Bundestag, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz was interrogated RepresentativesThere was a heated discussion. The head of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, pointed out that for the first time in history the government wants to adopt an unconstitutional budget. The opposition supported the call for new elections.
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