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Christian Lindner still sees many places where “necessary priorities” can be achieved. © Michael Kappeler/dpa
If the finance minister has his way, top meetings with Scholz and Habeck are needed to close the billion-dollar gap in financial planning. Their latest austerity proposals sparked farmers' protests.
Berlin - Finance Minister Christian Lindner expects that top rounds with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) will again be necessary in the budget negotiations for 2025. All ministries are called upon to present additional consolidation ideas. “But I am under no illusion: this will be a task that will be carried out by the top government under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance,” the FDP leader told the dpa.
There is currently a gap in the financial planning for the coming year in the double-digit billion range. “There is no additional income to be distributed, but now it is about consolidation,” said Lindner. Therefore, the procedure for drawing up the budget must be changed. It doesn't work if the ministries register their wishes first, as in previous years. Rather, “joint strategic measures” are needed to plug the hole.
“I still see many places where we can achieve the necessary priorities,” said Lindner. Ultimately, this will probably not be decided in individual discussions with the respective ministers, but by the leaders of the coalition. In December, after the Federal Constitutional Court's surprising budget ruling, Scholz, Habeck and Lindner looked for ways to compensate for a billion-dollar gap in the budget in rounds of three. Their austerity proposals then triggered farmers' protests in many cities. dpa