Germany will be able to continue to release "
large sums
" in 2021 to cope with the economic and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, Angela Merkel assured Saturday, December 5.
“
We have been able to deploy significant sums in 2020 and we will be able to do so in 2021 because we have managed our finances well in recent years,
” the German Chancellor said in her weekly podcast.
The German parliament is due to vote on the federal budget next week.
The Chancellor, in power for 15 years, notes in particular that Germany is the least indebted country of the G7.
Read also: Covid-19: Germany cannot stop the epidemic
This aid "
represents a lot of money but the costs would be even higher, both financially and socially, if many companies collapsed and if millions of jobs were lost
", adds Merkel, who will leave the chancellery in 2021. "
Of course, we cannot maintain this level of support indefinitely and it is clear that we will have to work on this exceptional debt from 2023
", continues Merkel.
"
We are already seeing huge budgetary challenges for the years to come
."
More and more voices are being raised for a gradual return to budgetary discipline, in a country allergic to public spending, which has injected several hundred billion euros to help its companies get through the shock of the crisis.
Read also: Virus: Germany "cannot spend without limit" to help the economy
Berlin released nearly 1 trillion euros in business aid in March in the form of short-time work, guaranteed loans and direct aid.
The country launched in June a recovery plan of 130 billion euros for investments for the future and a revival of consumption.
Read also: After the Covid-19, real estate companies will have to reinvent themselves
These expenditures will cause 300 billion euros in new debt in 2020 and 2021 for the largest economy in the euro area, according to the Ministry of Finance.
They swept away the sacrosanct rule of the “
debt brake
”, enshrined in the German constitution, prohibiting the federal government from borrowing more than 0.35% of its GDP.
