Criticism of the government's budget draft hails in the Bundestag. The Union warns of the rapidly increasing interest burden on the federal government, the AfD speaks of "illegal reserves" and the left criticizes: "SPD and Greens let themselves be put under pressure by the FDP".
The opposition in the Bundestag has criticized the budget draft of the traffic light coalition as unsuitable for dealing with the current crisis. The CDU housekeeper Mathias Middelberg warned of a sharp rise in the interest burden on the federal government. In the coming year, the federal government would face an interest burden of EUR 30 billion - after EUR 4 billion last year, said Middelberg in the Bundestag's financial debate. "That shows how your leeway is narrowed if you keep going into debt."
The Union politician praised the fact that Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP wanted to respect the rules of the debt brake in the 2023 budget. "Abiding by the debt brake is socially just policy," he said. At the same time, however, Middelberg pointed out that representatives of the SPD and the Greens were now questioning the debt brake again; he called on the FDP to counteract.
AfD MP Peter Boehringer drew a bleak budget scenario. He accused the coalition of circumventing the rules of the debt brake by resorting to "illegal reserves". Because of the "energy cost explosion" the coalition will have to adopt a supplementary budget with additional borrowing, he predicted.
"The stupidest energy policy in the world in Germany leads to the highest electricity costs in the world," criticized Boehringer with a view to the phase-out of nuclear and coal energy. This development will lead to "mass bankruptcies and impoverishment". Boehringer called on the federal government to create conditions for being able to get gas and coal from Russia again.
Left finance expert Gesine Lötzsch demanded: "The budget must become more social." Rising inflation is driving "many people into dramatic problems" without the government providing any effective help. The government only offers "charities" for the citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises are left in the lurch.
Lötzsch named the FDP as responsible for what she believed to be the wrong budgetary policy. "SPD and Greens let themselves be put under pressure by the FDP," she said - and appealed: "Be braver towards the FDP!"
The draft budget approved by the Federal Cabinet on July 1 provides for expenditure of 445.2 billion euros for 2023. The debt brake is to be complied with again with a new debt of 9.9 billion euros that can be offset against it.
Finance Secretary Florian Toncar from the FDP described inflation and its consequences as the biggest current problem in Germany. When presenting the draft budget for the coming year in the Bundestag, Toncar also confirmed that the debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law must be observed. There is "quite a consensus that today we no longer need expansionary fiscal policy, but a planned return to falling deficits," he said.
