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Finance Minister Lindner (photo from May 2022): "Moderation is a requirement of the Basic Law"
Photo: Fabian Bimmer / REUTERS
What comes after the tank discount and the 9-euro ticket?
If Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has his way, consumers should not expect any additional relief from the state this year.
Lindner does not want to put together a third relief package to mitigate rising energy and food prices until next year.
"New budget funds are no longer available this year," said the FDP leader of the "Wirtschaftswoche".
With the exception of the fuel discount and the nine-euro ticket, the measures in the relief packages that have already been decided have not even arrived.
»A family of four, in which both parents work, is relieved of more than 1000 euros with the EEG surcharge, child bonus and employee allowance alone.
It's all just coming. Let's just let it sink in."
Lindner continued: “There will be another relief package in 2023.
In any case, the standard rates for basic security will be adjusted upwards – this helps those who need it most.
Then there will also be relief for all hard-working taxpayers in the cold progression.
I firmly believe that the finance minister must not be the beneficiary of inflation.«
"Cold progression" is a kind of creeping tax increase, for example when a salary increase is completely eaten up by inflation, but still leads to higher taxes.
Lindner had previously said that he did not want to extend temporary measures such as the 9-euro ticket or the tank discount.
His statements could cause trouble in the traffic light coalition, in the SPD and the Greens there are demands for timely further relief for citizens in view of rising prices.
Against the background of high inflation, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will meet next Monday in a concerted action with representatives of employers and trade unions.
In the federal budget for 2023, Lindner wants to comply with the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law and suspended in the corona pandemic. On Friday, the cabinet will discuss the draft budget.
"We can no longer afford additional debt," he told the paper.
“Moderation is a requirement of the Basic Law.
We have to get back to financial solidity, otherwise in a few years we would have to cut government benefits across the board or massively increase taxes," said the FDP politician.
»We would even endanger the AAA rating of the Federal Republic of Germany«.
The classification means that the German state is considered particularly creditworthy on the capital market and receives fresh money from investors on favorable terms.
mic/dpa