Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) has warned to kick off the budget debate in the Bundestag before a recession. It was crucial, Scholz said, "that with the solid financial foundations we have today, we are able to keep up with many, many billions if an economic crisis breaks out in Germany and Europe."
The economy in Germany has cooled this year. The main reasons are a weaker global economy, which hits the German export, as well as the quarrels about the planned exit of Great Britain from the EU. Many experts also expect a decline in the third quarter, with which Germany would officially be in recession.
However, if you believe the Federal Finance Minister, Germany has enough financial resources to fight it. "We'll do it then, that's Keynesianism, if you want to put it that way, that's an active policy against the crisis - but then it has to be there for now," said Scholz.
- An economic stimulus program is superfluous. The state should relieve the citizens. Read the analysis by Christian Reiermann here.
Expenditure and revenue of the budget should amount to almost 360 billion euros next year. Despite the highest investment in years, the budget comes again without new debt, said Scholz. The same applies to the medium-term financial planning until 2023. The opposition criticizes that investment will stagnate after 2020 approximately.
The Bundestag advises until Friday about the budgets. The budget is finally decided at the end of November. Until then there should be some changes. In addition to the concrete design of the climate protection measures, the grand coalition is also in dispute over the basic pension demanded by the SPD and the increase in defense spending sought by the Union.
