Employers are calling for rapid aid funds for companies

An economic stimulus package is intended to push the economy that has been hampered by the Corona crisis, but what should the aid look like? The coalitioners position themselves. The economy is in a hurry.

Berlin / Munich (dpa) - In the debate about an economic stimulus package, employers have asked the federal government to first set up a fast-acting "bridging aid fund" for companies.

"The most affected companies now need particularly quick help," says a letter from Steffen Kampeter, chief executive of the Federal Association of German Employers' Associations, to Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD). The letter was available to the German Press Agency. Meanwhile, the CDU and CSU warned that there is no limit to the money available for an economic stimulus package.

According to CSU chief Markus Söder, the federal government should be allowed to incur a maximum of 100 billion euros in additional debts this year to boost the economy after the corona crisis. "It is important that we do not ruin the state," said Bavaria's prime minister at a party convention on Friday. Concepts for further new borrowing of up to 150 or 200 billion euros could not be financed, all aid had to remain "economically sensible".

Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) also said on Friday to the German Press Agency: "We have to handle citizens' tax money carefully and economically". According to a "Spiegel" report, Finance Minister Scholz is currently planning an economic stimulus package of up to 150 billion euros.

According to "Spiegel", Scholz wants to strengthen purchasing power with a family bonus, among other things. Parents should therefore receive a one-off payment of 300 euros for each child. In addition, innkeepers and artists should get compensation for lost income. Ease of depreciation or investment grants are planned for companies.

The head of the CSU regional group in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, declined a family bonus. NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU) had proposed such a fee of 600 euros per child. "We now do not need competition about whether 300 or 600 euros will lead us out of the economic crisis." Instead, it must now "be about innovation issues and new technologies," Dobrindt told Bayerischer Rundfunk.

CDU / CSU parliamentary group spokeswoman Antje Tillmann complained in the "Rheinische Post" (Saturday) that a family bonus for all families was not accurate enough. "It would be better to link the bonus to the grant of the child supplement," said the CDU politician. Only children in need received the child supplement.

At its Internet party conference on Friday, the CSU called for investments and tax relief to boost the economy. For example, there should be purchase premiums for low-emission cars, travel vouchers for holidays in Germany, tax cuts for companies and citizens, and more money for road construction and the fast 5G mobile network.

Federal Minister of Economics Altmaier had proposed a "moratorium on burdens" for the economy as well as improved depreciation conditions and an expanded loss calculation. "We need a fresh start for our economy from now on," the rescue programs were not enough for that, Altmaier had explained.

The economy is also putting pressure, as Kampeter's letter makes clear with the call for a "bridging aid fund". "If you wait until the other elements of the economic stimulus program are in place, it may be too late for the hardest hit companies," says Kampeter. "The aim must be for the aid to be paid out in June 2020." "For some companies there is simply no time left." That is why he has made proposals to bridge the gap in the next few weeks. He is in discussion with Scholz about this.

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich called for the planned stimulus package to be combined with debt relief from over-indebted municipalities. Otherwise such a package would "lack a crucial substance," said Mützenich of the editorial network Germany (RND / Saturday). Scholz had proposed that the federal and state governments support the municipalities in the economic stimulus package with 57 billion euros. The money is intended to compensate for slumps in trade tax and at the same time to relieve municipalities in need from old debts. Criticism of the proposal came from the Union.

The economist Marcel Fratzscher warned that the stimulus package should support consumers more than before. Lower social security contributions or a higher parental allowance are conceivable, said the president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) of the dpa. Overall, the economic stimulus package should have a triad: a significant relief for companies, for example through a lower corporate tax or earlier depreciation options, relief for consumers and public investments.