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Traffic light shortly before agreement on gas price brake

2022-09-29T08:12:54.656Z


In order to get the rising gas prices under control, they are to be artificially capped. According to SPIEGEL information, the government has now found a way to finance the multi-billion dollar intervention.


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Smoke from a chimney: Heating should become cheaper

Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / picture alliance / dpa

The federal government is about to reach an agreement on how to protect the economy and consumers from high gas prices.

According to information from SPIEGEL, everything is headed towards a solution in which a sub-budget that was created during the corona crisis plays a key role.

According to the plans, the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) is to be given the task of dampening gas price increases.

For this purpose, he will receive a new credit authorization, which should be between 150 billion euros and 200 billion euros.

The money is intended to be used to compensate gas importers or final suppliers such as the public utility company if they do not pass on the increased world market prices to consumers.

This is how the government wants to protect households from high gas prices.

A specially appointed commission is currently deliberating on how exactly the prices for consumers can be capped.

According to government circles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) are on the verge of an agreement in their negotiations on a gas price brake.

The results will be presented this Thursday or Friday.

In addition, everything boils down to the fact that the gas levy due on October 1st will no longer apply.

All gas customers should contribute a surcharge of 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour to their gas bill so that the suppliers can cope with the higher prices.

This solution becomes superfluous if the government helps companies directly via the WSF.

How expensive it will be is still unclear

The WSF offered itself as a vehicle for this purpose, says a member of the government.

It was designed for such measures.

The special budget was created during the corona pandemic.

His job was to provide financial support to large companies that were struggling because of the lockdowns.

Lufthansa was one of the first recipients at the time.

According to a negotiator, no one has been able to quantify exactly how much money will be needed to subsidize gas prices down to a level that is acceptable for households.

Therefore, a generous credit line must be made available that does not run the risk of being exhausted after a short time.

For Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), the variant represents a face-saving solution. It allows him to comply with the debt brake in the core budget of the federal government pro forma next year.

Because the WSF is a sub-budget with its own credit authority, its debts do not count there.

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2022-09-29

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