BERLIN – Germany is tightening its belt. Back strict. The motto is: save, save, save. And given the hot autumn of Europe’s stability pact reform, that’s not good news.
The pandemic is over, the acute phase of the energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine has subsided, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, declares the years of international distress over and wants to return to the “debt brake”, essentially the balance between revenue and expenditure. We must return to “normal”, the ministry said.
Rigor is back: cutting costs
The Liberal minister, known for his toughness, urged all colleagues to cut spending – except for defense chief Boris Pistorius, which will be able to meet NATO’s commitment to increase military spending to 2% of GDP. With a view to the official presentation of the 2024 budget scheduled for Wednesday, the Lindner people announced that “a consolidation of public finances is urgently needed in times of high inflation.” The priority is: no new debt.”
The return to balance
In order to ensure the return to a balanced budget, which will be respected next year, Lindner has already announced that this will be necessary save 14.4 billion euros between 2025 and 2027and has already suggested this to colleagues sacrifice social spendingparticularly grants for families, health insurance and pensions.