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Finance Minister Lindner in the Bundestag: »Not everything desirable can be financed directly«
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Last year, the federal government borrowed EUR 24.8 billion less than planned in the budget.
This is the result of the provisional budget for 2021, as Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) announced in a speech in the Bundestag.
The transfer of 60 billion euros to the energy and climate fund has already been taken into account.
"Despite the supplementary budget, 24.8 billion euros less debt has to be incurred than planned by the previous government," said Lindner.
Fiscal policy is still being shaped by the pandemic, said the minister: "We are doing what is necessary, but we are not exhausting what is possible." to comply with
Lindner said his ministry is currently working on an extension of the home office flat rate, on longer deadlines for submitting tax returns, on tax-free grants for short-time work benefits, and on tax exemption for care bonuses of up to 3,000 euros.
It is important to switch from “crisis mode to design mode”, said the finance minister.
Criticism of the planned supplementary budget
Mathias Middelberg, financial policy spokesman for the Union faction, criticized Lindner's planned supplementary budget of 60 billion euros.
“They say we need the money to deal with the acute pandemic emergency,” complained Middelberg.
In fact, however, Lindner want to use the money for completely different purposes and also at completely different times.
That is "not honest".
The Federal Court of Auditors recently criticized Lindner's plans to reallocate 60 billion euros, which were approved as loans due to the corona crisis in 2021 but were not taken out.
The FDP minister wants to increase the climate fund with the billions.
However, the auditors said that the connection between the 60 billion euro allocation to the energy and climate fund and the fight against the corona pandemic was “not conclusively explained”.
Among other things, the Court of Auditors criticizes that climate change is not an acute, sudden crisis, but a permanent challenge that has to be overcome with normal budgetary rules.
fek/AFP