"Not anymore this year": Lindner pushes new relief into the future

A new dispute is smoldering in the traffic light: while the SPD and the Greens are soon demanding further relief for the population shaken by inflation, Finance Minister Lindner is closing the state coffers.

"Not anymore this year": Lindner pushes new relief into the future

A new dispute is smoldering in the traffic light: while the SPD and the Greens are soon demanding further relief for the population shaken by inflation, Finance Minister Lindner is closing the state coffers. Corrections to basic security and cold progression will only be made in the coming year.

Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner does not want to put together a third relief package to mitigate rising energy and food prices until next year. "New budget funds are no longer available this year," said the FDP leader of the "Wirtschaftswoche". With the exception of the fuel discount and the nine-euro ticket, the measures in the relief packages that have already been decided have not even arrived. "A family of four, in which both parents work, is relieved with the EEG surcharge, child bonus and employee allowance alone with over 1000 euros. That all comes first. We should let it sink in first."

Lindner continued: "There will be another relief package in 2023. The standard rates of basic security will be adjusted upwards in any case - that helps those who particularly need it. Then it will also be a relief for all hard-working taxpayers with cold progression I firmly believe that the finance minister must not be the beneficiary of inflation." "Cold progression" refers to a kind of creeping tax increase, for example when a salary increase is completely eaten up by inflation, but still leads to higher taxes.

Lindner's statements could cause trouble in the traffic light coalition, in the SPD and the Greens there are demands for timely further relief for citizens in view of rising prices. Against the background of high inflation, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet with representatives of employers and trade unions next Monday. In the 2023 federal budget, Lindner wants to comply with the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law and suspended in the corona pandemic. On Friday, the cabinet will discuss the draft budget.

"We can no longer afford additional debt," he told the "Wirtschaftswoche". "Moderation is a requirement of the Basic Law. We have to get back to financial solidity, otherwise in a few years we would have to cut state benefits across the board or massively increase taxes. We would even endanger the AAA rating of the Federal Republic of Germany," said the FDP Politician. The classification means that the German state is considered particularly creditworthy on the capital market and receives fresh money from investors on favorable terms.