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Merkel speech live: Bundestag decides on Corona budget - is the Chancellor talking about the hard lockdown?

2020-12-09T12:56:04.042Z


The federal budget for the coming year is shaped by the Corona crisis. Many have a stomach ache in the face of high debts. Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks in the general debate on Wednesday.


The federal budget for the coming year is shaped by the Corona crisis.

Many have a stomach ache in the face of high debts.

Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks in the general debate on Wednesday.

  • The

    federal budget

    for the coming year

    is currently being

    negotiated in the

    Bundestag

    .

  • On Wednesday, Chancellor

    Angela Merkel

    * will

    speak

    in the general debate.

  • Vice Chancellor

    Olaf Scholz

    defended the budget on Tuesday.

Update from December 9th, 9.15 a.m

.:

Angela Merkel

(CDU) speaks in the Bundestag.

The federal budget for 2021 will amount to almost 500 billion euros. This will require almost 180 billion euros in new debt.

That is “anything but easy”, especially after many years with a balanced

budget

.

New debt means "constraints on future spending and future generations".

Merkel emphasizes how special the

pandemic

situation

is.

That requires special action "and this is what this budget expresses".

Budget debate in the Bundestag: AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel sees "mass unemployment"

Update from December 9th, 9:08 a.m.:

Alice Weidel, AfD parliamentary group leader, is the first speaker to take the lectures in the

Bundestag

this Wednesday

.

She once again criticizes the

lockdown

in Germany, which brings "more collateral damage than good".

Instead, the most vulnerable groups should be more protected.

Weidel calls for an end to this “counterproductive lockdown policy”.

She makes fun of the fact that the

November

aid will probably not be paid out until January because there are software problems.

“So much for

digitization,

” says Weidel.

"Mass unemployment" and an "enormous mountain of debt" are on the horizon.

Future generations would have to pay off the debt for a long time.

Update from December 9th, 8:53 a.m.:

This week the Bundestag deals with the

budget

- the climax will take place on this Wednesday.

In a four-hour general debate starting at 9 a.m., Chancellor

Angela Merkel

will also

take the floor and explain her policy.

Budget debate in the Bundestag: Olaf Scholz defends debt plans

First report from December 8, 9:20 p.m .:

Berlin - During the final deliberations on the

federal budget

, the grand coalition defended its debt plans for the coming year.

The federal government has the responsibility to protect the health of the citizens and at the same time to lead the country out of the crisis economically and socially, said Vice Chancellor

Olaf Scholz

on Tuesday in the Bundestag.

"We have chosen this path and will continue to do so," he announced.

Union parliamentary group vice-president

Andreas Jung

emphasized that the planned high debts would not be taken lightly, but because human life, health and coexistence were endangered.

“Because it hits our country to the core.” However, the opposition criticized the wrong focus.

Finance Minister Scholz's

budget

for the coming year is shaped by the

Corona crisis

*.

Companies should be able to apply for grants of around 39.5 billion euros.

Hospitals, airports and the railways are also supported.

Around 2.7 billion euros are earmarked

for the procurement of

corona vaccines

*.

Overall, Scholz is planning to spend almost half a trillion euros, more than a third of which will be financed from debt.

Loans of almost 180 billion euros are planned.

Bundestag adopts budget: debt brake is suspended

The

Bundestag

sat therefore - as in the current year - the debt brake in the constitution suspended.

Actually, income and expenditure in the federal budget have to be balanced as far as possible without new loans.

The

debt brake

allows only minimal debt of up to 0.35 percent of the gross domestic product.

Scholz's plans for the coming year clearly exceed this figure.

The Bundestag can only make an exception in emergencies, such as natural disasters or exceptional emergency situations.

The federal government must then at the same time draw up a repayment plan for the debt.

The federal states welcome the suspension of the #debt brake next year.

In a briefing, they take a position on the # household2021 The @bundesrat agree that there will also be an "exceptional emergency situation" in 2021.

#bundestagsnachrichten 👇https: //t.co/OiSGHzsNSE

- Today in the Bundestag (@hib_Nachrichten) December 8, 2020

The

Union

emphasized that Germany would have to repay billions in the coming decades.

At the

same time,

Scholz

believes that strong economic growth can improve the debt ratio again on its own.

"We will grow out of this crisis," he announced.

But that will only work if investments are made in the right future fields, for example in a

CO2-neutral economy

and technological and digital progress.

In addition, people with high wealth would have to make a higher tax contribution.

Bundestag adopts budget: Criticism from the FDP and AfD, the Left and the Greens call for investments

While the

FDP

and

AfD

* sharply criticized the amount of the planned debts, the

Left

* and

Greens

*

demanded

that loans should also be taken out for investments in the future.

Above all, they criticized the main focus of the budget.

While corporations like

Lufthansa

would be saved with billions, the government was feeding the unemployed with alms, said the left housekeeper,

Gesine Lötzsch

.

She demanded a property levy for the richest 0.7 percent of the population and the abolition of the "future killer" debt brake.

The housekeeper of the Greens,

Sven-Christian Kindler

, warned of the "dangerous pressure to save after Corona" - if the federal government wanted to comply with the debt rule again under all circumstances.

"You have to ensure that the red pen is not applied after Corona *," he said and called for longer debt repayment periods and more leeway for credit-financed investments through a reform of the debt brake.

Bundestag approves budget: Chancellor Merkel speaks on Wednesday in the general debate

FDP parliamentary group vice

Christian Dürr,

on the other hand, described debts as a “sweet poison” that tempted the federal government to solve all problems with money.

For example, the promised corporate aid would not yet reach those affected because Minister of Economic Affairs

Peter Altmaier

could not get the necessary software ready.

With the right policy, the federal government could get by with half of the debt in the coming year - but Scholz would have to dare to say no and cut spending.

Video: Finance Minister Olaf Scholz does not expect a black zero until 2024

The AfD also called for significantly lower debts.

The federal government's reaction to the crisis with the

partial lockdown

was completely exaggerated, said housekeeper

Peter Boehringer

.

In the coming year you will only really feel the effects, tens of thousands of bankruptcies are to be expected.

"After us, the flood" is clearly the motto of this budget of the cabinet exiles Merkel and Scholz, "he criticized.

On Friday, the

Bundestag will

finally

vote

on the budget for the coming year.

Before that, the budget plans of the individual ministries are on the agenda - on

Wednesday

that of the Chancellery with the traditional general debate with Chancellor

Angela Merkel

*.

(dpa / fmü) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-12-09

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