In the general debate of the Bundestag, Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the policy of black zero. Demands for new debt she rejected as "absurd". "I am surprised that there is always so disparaging a household here in this house," she said. "We've never had so much money in the budget before, you can not make investments good if you're in debt."
Merkel thus turned against demands from opposition parties such as the Left and the Greens, who are calling for higher investments in climate protection and the social sector, and want to finance these through new debt. Merkel countered that a "decent budget" would have to invest without new debt.
The federal government wants to get along for the seventh year in a row without new debt
The Chancellor stressed that Germany is currently "relatively robust" economically. However, measures were needed to strengthen the German economy in an increasingly difficult international environment. As an example, she called a reduction in corporate tax. There are still differences in the coalition with the SPD.
All in all, the federal government's bill for the 2020 budget provides for expenditure of 362 billion euros - 5.6 billion euros more than in the current year. The final vote on the draft budget is scheduled for Friday. With the draft, the federal government is to get along for the seventh year in a row without new debt.
The FDP accused the grand coalition of failure in economic policy. "This federal government is sleepwalking on a looming economic crisis, sleepwalking on a financial crash," said the group leader Christian Lindner. Merkel hardly commented on that in her speech. "If you let the economy go, you should not be surprised about problems from the right."
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