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The federal government needs less debt in 2021 - Lindner defends course

2022-01-14T10:48:21.659Z


The federal government needs less debt in 2021 - Lindner defends course Created: 01/14/2022, 11:42 am Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP, l) and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the Bundestag. © Kay Nietfeld/dpa The new finance minister wants to be “careful” with taxpayers' money. However, there is a lot of criticism in the Bundestag about a shift via a supplementary budget. Berlin - The f


The federal government needs less debt in 2021 - Lindner defends course

Created: 01/14/2022, 11:42 am

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP, l) and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the Bundestag.

© Kay Nietfeld/dpa

The new finance minister wants to be “careful” with taxpayers' money.

However, there is a lot of criticism in the Bundestag about a shift via a supplementary budget.

Berlin - The federal government had to incur less debt last year than planned.

Despite the supplementary budget, net borrowing was 24.8 billion euros lower than expected, said Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) in the Bundestag.

“So we do what is necessary.

But it is not exhausted what would be possible, ”said Lindner.

A total of almost EUR 85 billion in credit authorizations remain unused.

The minister did not give specific reasons.

However, planned funds, for example for state corona aid, should not have been called up, and the tax revenue was better than expected.

However, Lindner wants to set aside 60 billion with a supplementary budget in the energy and climate fund.

The money is to be used in the coming years for investments in climate protection that failed during the pandemic.

The Bundestag had given the federal government new debts of 240 billion in 2021 because of the Corona crisis and had drawn up an emergency regulation in the debt brake.

From 2023, the debt brake should apply normally again, emphasized Lindner.

Further corona adjustments planned

The minister affirmed that the federal government understands fiscal policy as “enabling policy”.

Transformation, technology and talent development were prioritized in the budget.

"We want to enable this country to dare to make progress," said Lindner.

There will be no tax increases, instead the government is working on tax relief.

For example, he mentioned the planned abolition of the EEG surcharge for electricity customers from 2023

The Ministry of Finance is also working on a new Corona tax law, says Lindner.

It is about an extension of the home office flat rate, an extension of extended loss accounts for companies, longer deadlines for the submission of tax returns, tax-free subsidies for short-time work benefits and the tax exemption for the care bonus.

Further steps would be taken during the legislative period.

Lindner went on to say: "It is prudent to strengthen the state's ability to act for future crises after a crisis." set pandemic.

Criticism of the supplementary budget also from the Court of Auditors

This shift is controversial.

The Federal Court of Auditors considers the supplementary budget to be "constitutionally dubious".

The connection between the EUR 60 billion allocation to the energy and climate fund and the fight against the corona pandemic is “not conclusively explained”, according to a statement by the Court of Auditors for the Budget Committee published by the Bundestag.

Climate change is not an acute, sudden crisis, but an ongoing challenge that has to be dealt with using normal budgetary rules.

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The CDU MP Mathias Middelberg also criticized in the debate in the Bundestag that Lindner wanted to accumulate debt.

It is not about a “constitutional petitesse”.

He asked Lindner to withdraw the supplementary budget.

AfD MP Peter Boehringer spoke of an unconstitutional supplementary budget.

On the other hand, the SPD politician Michael Schrodi accused the Union of stepping on the brakes on the economy.

It is an “economic Long Covid”, so it is important to invest in climate protection, for example.

The Green MP Sven-Christian Kindler said that the supplementary budget is about an "investment injection" for the economy.

dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-01-14

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