The NRW rescue package was created to deal with the consequences of the Corona virus. Shortly before it expires, the government is worried about billions again. The State Court of Auditors considers this to be unconstitutional.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The state audit office has reiterated its massive criticism of the financial policy of the black-green NRW state government. "As is now apparent, politicians (...) always find it difficult to return money once they have received it," said President Brigitte Mandt of the "Rheinische Post" (Tuesday). It is about how the government is dealing with the multi-billion dollar NRW rescue package to deal with the Corona crisis.
"Many things that were on the agenda anyway were financed with it. And we're seeing that again now," said Mandt. Although it is clear that the rescue package will expire at the end of the year, the government has raised 4.15 billion euros in the past few weeks. She could never spend this amount on corona measures by the end of the year. "That means: Money was clearly put into the rescue fund, in a very considerable amount. It is therefore obvious that this has nothing to do with Corona."
The Court of Auditors had previously expressed serious constitutional concerns about the 2023 budget draft. The funds for the crisis management reserve of five billion euros came from loans for the rescue package. "The State Court of Auditors regards both the borrowings in 2022 and their intended use for the crisis management reserve as unconstitutional," it said. The Ministry of Finance had then announced an audit.
"At the end of the 2022 budget year, the funds that were still available should only have been used to pay off debt," said Mandt. Instead, a loan-financed reserve was created for the next year. The constitutional court had previously classified such practices as "fundamentally unconstitutional". "We are assuming that the current debt regulation will not be judged differently."
