Lindner wants to postpone plans for the 2024 budget. © Sven Hoppe/dpa
In the budget dispute, Lindner wants to postpone the presentation of the plans. Demands for a regulated financial policy of the traffic light are getting louder.
Niigata – Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) wants to postpone the presentation of his key figures for the 2024 budget. He will present the government's draft budget to the cabinet only after June 21, said the FDP leader on the way to the meeting of the G7 finance ministers in Niigata, Japan. "June 21 no longer applies," Lindner said on Thursday night (May 11).
Budget dispute of the traffic light: Lindner wants to postpone date for government draft
The CDU budget politician Mathias Middelberg spoke of an alarm signal. The traffic light government is politically incapable of acting, he told the Reuters news agency. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) rightly emphasizes the turning point. "He must now ensure that the fundamentally changed framework conditions associated with this are taken into account in the budget. Above all, he must make it clear to his own party and the Greens that there must be an end to the rampant indebtedness."
The German government has been wrestling for months over the budget plans for the coming year. Lindner has identified a financing gap of around 20 billion euros. Among other things, additional costs must be compensated for by the collective bargaining agreement in the public sector and higher interest rates. According to Lindner, the results of the tax estimate on Thursday are unlikely to be sufficient to compensate for this.
The Minister of Finance had therefore called on the ministries to save. "We will have to talk to the cabinet again about financial realities," Lindner told dpa. The ministerialcolleagues had announced additional requests of 70 billion euros, for which Lindner sees no room for manoeuvre in the budget.
Finance Minister Lindner wants to refrain from tax increases and sees high risks for the budget
Lindner also insists on complying with the legally required debt brake and refraining from tax increases. "So we have to learn to get by with the available financial framework," said Lindner. Priorities must be set for this, because not everything can be financed at the same time.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the risks to the budget have also increased further recently. In this context, interest payments, the ongoing collective bargaining and aid to Ukraine are mentioned. "The high interest burden is a clear signal to slow down the state's debt," Lindner continued.
Lindner postpones date for government draft – Taxpayers' Association warns of "tax record"
The Taxpayers' Association is calling for a sound financial policy by the traffic light coalition and warns of a record number of taxes. "Germany is at the forefront of taxes and social security contributions worldwide," said the President of the Taxpayers' Association, Reiner Holznagel, the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. "Citizens and businesses are facing a tax record of 1000 billion euros in tax payments alone."
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Holznagel told the newspaper that the state had no shortage of money, "but simply too high spending requests and no priorities." He spoke out in favour of "load brakes". "It would start with a consistent inflation compensation in tax law and the complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge." (bohy/dpa)