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Finance Minister Christian Lindner
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa
Germany will break the deficit limit of three percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year after all.
The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) assumes this in internal calculations.
The experts from department head Christian Lindner (FDP) expect a deficit of up to 3.5 percent for 2023.
Although the federal government is complying with the debt brake with planned new borrowing of 45.6 billion euros in 2023, further credit-financed expenditure is driving up the deficit.
For example, recourse to the so-called asylum reserve will increase borrowing by 40.5 billion euros in 2023.
This reserve only exists virtually; in fact, Lindner reverses debt repayments from previous budget surplus years.
In 2023, Lindner will again mobilize around 200 billion euros through loans through special budgets, for example for the upgrading of the Bundeswehr or the capping of energy prices.
They do not count when calculating the debt brake, but they do count for the national deficit.
The deficit at the federal level is offset by surpluses at the federal states, municipalities and in the social security funds.
According to BMF calculations, the debt ratio, i.e. the ratio of old loans to GDP, will rise to over 67 percent in 2023 and remain largely stable in the years that follow.
In 2026 it should be around 66 percent and thus still above the upper limit of 60 percent specified in the Stability and Growth Pact.
The EU Commission has suspended the requirements for the coming year due to the economic consequences of the corona pandemic and the Ukraine war.
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