Tobias Koch (CDU), chairman of the parliamentary group. © Markus Scholz/dpa
CDU parliamentary group leader Tobias Koch has defended the controversial budget freeze of the black-green state government in the meantime. "I still think the approach is completely correct," Koch said on Friday, a few hours before a special session of the state parliament on the budget course. At the same time, he acknowledged mistakes made by the coalition. "We may have underestimated its impact."
Kiel - The opposition had massively criticized the budget freeze imposed in mid-May and lifted after two weeks.
"Everyone was taken by surprise," Koch said. Initially, there were uncertainties. However, the procedures of the state government's approach are absolutely plausible. "Because the budget room for manoeuvre is tight." The budget freeze was intended to prevent the government from entering into new commitments and contracts.
The coalition had to find ways to close the financial gap caused by declining tax revenues, Koch said. "In fact, it was not foreseeable that we would be able to do it within two weeks." A temporary lockdown alone won't save the country any money." According to Koch, the debate of the past few weeks offered a foretaste of upcoming budget discussions for 2024. The country's financial situation is not getting any easier.
The CDU finance politician Ole Plambeck argued similarly. The necessary savings of 94 million euros and a further 50 million euros due to a limitation of personnel budgets are not peanuts. "It was about saving 20 percent of the free funds in the budget." dpa
