As of: February 1, 2024, 11:24 a.m
By: Stefan Krieger
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The 2024 federal budget is under massive austerity pressure.
A billion-dollar hole in the climate fund could drive up the price of CO₂.
Berlin – It was a long struggle before the budget for 2024 could go into the final discussion in the Bundestag this week.
The original preparation of the budget had already been under massive austerity pressure, especially since Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) rejected tax increases as well as a new exception to the debt brake.
Due to the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in November, another double-digit billion amount was missing.
Accordingly, there are massive cuts, but social benefits remain largely stable.
The Bundestag is scheduled to finally pass the draft on Friday (February 2).
What are the key figures of the budget?
A budget volume of 476.8 billion euros is planned.
This corresponds to the size in the budget plan for 2023. The original government draft for 2024 had earmarked 445.7 billion euros.
Part of the additional expenditure comes from reallocations from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF).
The new debt should amount to 39.03 billion euros, which corresponds exactly to the upper limit according to the debt brake.
70.5 billion euros are planned for investments.
Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck at the budget debate in the Bundestag.
© Imago Images
As
Bild
now reports, however, up to 20 billion euros are missing from the budget for the climate and transformation fund.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (The Greens) wants to use the font to advance and partially finance the restructuring of the economy.
According to CDU calculations, the expected income of 29 billion euros would currently be offset by expenses of around 49 billion euros.
CDU expert: The next price shock is looming
CDU budget expert Christian Haase told
Bild
: “A budget hole of 15 to 20 billion euros is anything but peanuts.
The next price shock is looming for citizens and companies.” According to
Bild,
Habeck could double the CO₂ price to up to 90 euros per ton in order to plug the hole, the CDU fears.
The consequence of such an increase for consumers: a liter of gasoline would be around 13 cents more expensive, a liter of diesel would be a good 14 cents more expensive.
Heating oil would become more expensive by almost twelve cents per liter.
CDU budget expert Christian Haase is skeptical about the budget.
© Imago Images
Haase further criticizes the Economics Minister: “Habeck is looking into the climate policy abyss.
If he were finally no longer just climate minister, but also economics minister, he wouldn't have to solve his budget problems on the backs of citizens and entrepreneurs." Haase had previously expressed general skepticism about the traffic light coalition's budget plans.
The
Reuters
news agency was quoted as saying at the beginning of the week: “We all know that the big end will come this year.
Next year there will be a shortfall of 20 to 30 billion euros for the 2025 budget.”
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Representatives of the traffic light coalition rejected the criticism and in turn accused the Union of not making any concrete proposals.
“At its core, what the Union is doing here is a refusal to work,” said Green Party Housekeeper Sven-Christian Kindler.
There has so far been no reaction from the Ministry of Economic Affairs regarding a possible increase in the CO₂ price - so it remains speculation.
(skr/afp)